Guardian of Sanity
by A Samhildanach
Summary: Do you ever think that all the Guardian stories are getting a little cheesy? Well, I think they've gotten out of hand. This is a parody of Guardian stories, but it's not a Pertemis fic, exactly. I can't give away any pairings, but the protags aren't Percy and Artemis. I hope you enjoy it!
1. Introducing the Male

**This story is indeed set in an AU. The only differences are... well, you'll have to see. Most of them are in this chapter.**

 **I decided to write a story that critiques the guardian Pertemis type stories in a way that isn't just an analytical essay. And I plan on doing it in an... interesting way. It's not that I hate guardian stories, or the Pertemis typing. In fact, they're some of the most enjoyable stories. Forbidden love and such. But now everyone and their mother is writing a Guardian fic, and some of them even parody themselves. I feel it's necessary to outline exactly why some guardian stories are great, and why most are terrible. But, I'll do it in a fun and engaging way. I hope you're ready for a hell of a ride. And, please forgive the OC. He's... necessary. It can't be Percy, because Percy needs to be Percy. It'll become clear soon enough, I promise.**

 **Disclaimer:I don't own PJO.**

* * *

Flying is an incredible feeling. It's better than riding a rollercoaster, or drifting in a sports car. It's the feeling of total, effortless freedom. And, let me tell you, flying while made of air is a hundred times better.

I should introduce myself. I am a wind spirit, with a strength comparable to the average demigod. My name is too hard to pronounce, not to mention long, so I go by Nathan. There's no particular reason. I don't have much elemental power, other than transforming into wind and propelling through the skies, but that's fairly useless in battle, as I can't carry anything with me. I say I have strength equal to a demigod only because I've had a very long time to perfect my martial arts, and am much more skilled in a duel without powers than a demigod. I'm not really all that special. Except, of course, that I'm immortal.

Or, I was immortal. I chose to make myself mortal so I could participate in the Titan war. While the two camps fought their battles, I was part of a very loose force that dealt with the increased monster attack rate throughout America. In short, instead of choosing glory, I chose to protect mortals. But, far from being an unsung hero, I think it was just cowardice. Unfortunately for me, when I became mortal, I lost my ability to fly. Very upsetting. I'm still much faster than a mortal of my build should be, but it's just not fun at all.

Naturally, I wanted to get back to Olympus as fast as possible to change back into an immortal. An immortal can willingly change into a mortal, with enough effort, but no mortal can become immortal on their own. So, when I finally realized monster attacks were slowing down, and found out from some Romans that the war was over, I found myself in California. With my running speed, around 15 mph, running for approximately 12 hours a day, it should have taken me just over two weeks to get to Olympus. Unfortunately, it took me a lot, lot longer than that.

Here, I begin my story.

I was running through the Mark Twain National Forest when it happened. The event that would forever change my life. I got knocked out cold.

 _"Wait, what?"_ you may be asking yourself. And indeed, it makes no sense. One moment, I was running through the trees, and the next, I hit an invisible barrier of some kind directly with my skull, and I was out like a light.

When I came to, I was being pushed backwards, scooting along the ground. I looked all around to see what was causing it, but found nothing. It didn't make any sense. What was going on? I realized that whatever barrier I had hit before was now pushing be back. I quickly decided that before I was squashed against a tree, I should run to where it was pushing me. And to this day, I'm not sure if I made the right decision. But then again, I doubt I could've done anything different.

I ran for three or four minutes when it happened.

I ran directly through the Huntresses' camp.

And I kept running.

For three or four more minutes, anyways. Then I hit the wall again. But this time, I didn't get knocked out. Maybe before, it had been moving backwards, and the additional speed had caused me to lose consciousness, but this time, I had no such luck, and it hurt like a son of a bitch. I started running to the right, to see if the wall ended. And I kept running. I ran for hours. But I never left the forest. I realized, somewhat unceremoniously, that I had been running in circles. Or rather, in one big circle. It was big enough to convince me that I was going straight as I ran my hand along it. I realized that I had no choice. It was them. The huntresses. I didn't know what they did, or how they did it, but for the time being, I was stuck with them. I needed information fast. I wrote the letter alpha, and the letter omega beneath it, and I ran in a circle. I don't know why, but I wanted it to seem like a race. Maybe it was so I could use my top sprinting speed, to get an accurate measurement. Incidentally, my sprinting speed was exactly 25 mph on the nose. Knowing this, and the time it had taken me to run the circle, I found that the circle was 6.3 miles in circumference, which meant that it was just over one mile in radius. I only had one mile between me and the huntresses. One mile between me, and certain death.

I didn't know what I was going to do. Do I hide myself until the barrier goes away? Who knows how long that would take. Do I announce myself to the huntresses, and hope they don't kill me on the spot? I was rather found of my privates, so that option was out for the time being. I decided I would wait a while longer, but food was a necessity I needed to secure. I only carried two longswords with me from my time in the war, so I had no hunting weapons. I had a canteen with enough water for about a day. That was my time limit. One day before I needed to appeal to the Huntresses. I was not looking forward to it.

Deciding to conserve my energy, I sat was my back against the wall, so I would know if it moved or not. I took out my trusted blades from their scabbards, and a whetstone from my pocket, and started sharpening them.

I suppose now would be an apt time to describe myself a little more. I look about 18, though naturally I'm several thousand years old. I think that if I said I was moderately good looking, I wouldn't be lying, though I don't have much confidence. My brown hair was short, and stuck up at the front, and my only distinguishing feature was my big nose. Though, it wasn't all that big. My eyes were brown, but nothing special. I was pretty ordinary. I was wearing a gray windbreaker over a red T-shirt, and comfortably loose khakis, with a modified sword belt holding them up, as well as a scabbard on either side. The scabbards were detachable, with a little work, and so I laid them in my lap while I worked on the swords.

I chose many years ago to fight with two swords, rather than a sword and shield, as the shield would slow me down, and as a wind spirit, speed was everything to me. A two handed blade was decidedly un-Greek, and fighting with a single one handed blade with nothing in the offhand was utterly foolish. No truly good fighter in history fought with a single sword and nought else, for good reason. Someone who fought like that could be easily defeated. While the sword hand blocked the blow of such a fighter, the offhand could be used freely, to lethal effect. It is simply unheard of. At any rate, I had built up something of a reputation as a duelist during the war, as many warriors not on the front lines were itching to do battle with humanoids, and I proved my skill at single combat time and time again. Of course, if it was a battle of life and death, I am sure I would lose handily to anyone with decent powers and swordsmanship, but in a duel between swordsman, I cannot think of a time I fought when I was not the victor. However, this meant little to me, as I knew that given the time I had, anyone could become as strong as I. I was nothing special, really.

As I sat there, on the ground, sharpening my longswords, also nothing special, really, I thought of how I would approach the Huntresses' camp. Eventually I decided that the best course of action was to request an audience with Artemis. This way, the huntresses might be fooled into thinking that I might be important, and my instant death might be inadvisable. It would also show that I was not an ignorant mortal who foolishly wandered in, and my being turned into a small furry creature instantly might also be avoided. If I shouted from the edge of camp with my hands raised, I might just survive. I had no foolish illusions that I could fend off the arrows of the huntresses. Perhaps I could defeat one in single combat, or even two, but any more than that and I was as good as dead.

Next, I had to plan what I would say to the huntresses when they responded. I decided I would tell them that I was a soldier in the war, and I had urgent business with Artemis. This was not, strictly speaking, a lie, and might get me into Artemis's tent. I decided I'd improvise the rest if it cam to it. As for what I'd say to Artemis, I would just tell her exactly what happened, and ask if she knew what happened to me. If I died, I would die. I had no real qualms with death. I wasn't sure I'd make it to Elysium, but I was fairly sure I'd avoid the Fields of Punishment.

All in all, I was set to enter the camp of the Hunt after I slept. And sleep I did. My head ached after being in what was essentially two low speed car crashes in one day. I had no dreams whatsoever, which was fairly odd. When I became mortal, I started to have odd dreams and premonitions, and though they were often unpleasant, I had hoped I would have one explaining the situation. I wasn't so lucky.

I awoke to an arrow in my face, and a woman's voice. I was lying flat on my back and my swords were behind the woman

"What are you doing here? Explain, now, or die!" the woman said, very unpleasantly. She herself was not unpleasant, with pleasing proportions. She seemed 17 or 18, the average age of the Huntresses.

Foolishly, I decided to continue with my plan. I was tired, having just woken up, and surprised, so I made what one would call an "error."

I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and said, "I would like to request an audience with Lady Artemis."

I was promptly shot through the leg. I cried out, in pain.

"Explain what you're doing here, or this time, I will kill you," she repeated, completely unfazed.

"I-I'm-I was a soldier for the Greeks in the war and I'm returning to Olympus!" I managed to spit out.

"Then tell me why I shouldn't kill you for running through our camp yesterday night. We've been looking for you, _boy."_

"Well, um, you see, I, I'm very sorry, but, um-"

"Spit it out, trash!" the woman interrupted me.

"I'm trapped here! There is an invisible barrier keeping me from leaving a mile from your camp!"

"Bullshit." she said, as she shot my other leg.

I cried out in pain a second time, and barely managed to squeak out, "I'm not lying, I swear! I'll show you!"

"Then do it," she commanded, without even a tad of sympathy.

I left the arrows in my legs so that I wouldn't bleed as much, but getting up and walking caused my muscles to tear, and soon my pants were soaked in blood. I started walking away from the girl, but soon I realized my mistake. It wasn't just over a mile to the camp's center. It must be exactly a mile from the nearest Huntress. I was screwed.

"Oh, gods. The barrier isn't a mile from camp." I fell to my knees. "It's a mile from the Huntresses."

She quickly asked, "And if I don't believe you?"

"Then leave me to die. When you go back to camp, you'll hear my screams from being dragged along the ground with these arrows in my legs. Then you'll know."

"So be it."

And with that, the beautiful Huntress left. Without a trace of remorse, she turned her back on me and went to her friends. And I couldn't blame her. She'd probably spent years in the hunt, hating men, and had probably had a terrible experience with men before she entered. I was only part of the revenge she was taking on all men.

A few minutes later, I was being dragged along the ground, screaming in agony from having the arrows moved about. Before I knew it, I was out cold.

* * *

When I came to, I was in some sort of tent, lying on a bed. When I looked down, my legs were bandaged expertly, though stained red with blood. my pants were ripped very high, as I had been shot mid-thigh. I supposed that when she had heard screaming that wouldn't stop, she brought along some other members of the hunt, and found me next to dead. I was amazed I hadn't been killed. Suddenly, the tent flapped opened, and a different woman came inside.

"How are you feeling?" she said tersely.

"Like I got shot with an arrow in each leg," I replied, equally tersely.

"Your glibness will do you no credit here. Of that, I can assure you."

As I looked at the woman more closely, I saw that she was just as pleasing to the eye as the first. I could see why the Huntresses were so famed. It seemed they were all gorgeous. I could easily believe that common filthy men would attempt to court these maidens, even when they had no chance of even surviving the encounter. Luckily, I was not a common filthy man, and said nothing of the sort that would attract attention to my noticing the woman's beauty.

"I apologize sincerely, though I expect no forgiveness."

"And forgiveness you will get none. I heard you wished an audience with Artemis. Is that still true?"

"Not at the moment. I wished only to discuss how to leave this place. I've no intent to stay any longer than I absolutely must. But, some otherworldly force prevents me from getting more than a mile away from the nearest Huntress."

"I see. Natalie believed you wished an audience with her Lady so that you could see her resplendent beauty for yourself, and this is why she shot you. But now that we have seen proof of this 'otherworldy force' you speak of, in the way of the tracks you left when it dragged you closer to the camp, we no longer believe you wished to court her Lady. But that does not mean we trust you in any way. You could still be bluffing, having set up the wall yourself, though it is my personal belief that Aphrodite set up this trap."

The way the woman talked was indicative of a much older woman. She must have been a true veteran of the hunt, several hundred years or more.

"Aphrodite?" I inquired.

"She constantly quarrels with our Lady Artemis, as they have very different views on love, as one would expect," she explained. I obviously knew this, being immortal, but I dared not say so. Though this woman was much nicer than the other, I had no wish to anger one who could easily kill me. I wondered why exactly she was here, and decided she was probably sent to check on me, and decide what to do with me. This would make her a senior member of the hunt, meaning she wouldn't hesitate to kill a male. I subtly paled.

"But, how would this affect their quarrels?" I asked, hoping to appear stupid. It worked, to some extent.

"Isn't it obvious? By forcing a male to stay with the hunt, she hopes to prove our Lady wrong by having one of us fall for him," she explained as if I were a child of three.

"...ah. Well, as soon as the barrier is gone I'll be headed straight to Olympus," I explained.

"Oh?" she simply remarked.

"Yes, I am-was- an immortal wind spirit, and I turned mortal so I would be allowed to partake in the war. I fought monsters around the country while the main forces were fighting larger battles. I was on my way to returning to Olympus to regain my immortality when this mess happened."

"Well, that is an interesting story. At the very least, I thank you for saving me the trouble of asking for it."

The way the woman talked, I wasn't certain if she was being sarcastic or not.

"At any rate, if it's alright with the hunt, I would suggest that I camp at the edge of the boundary, and avoid all contact with the hunt. Is that acceptable?" I asked, secretly hopeful that I'd be allowed to live.

"That is not for me to decide. You will get your original wish. An audience with our Lady, Artemis," she said, with a sort of maniacal laugh, though I doubt she realized how terrifying the laugh was with this news. If I didn't have to meet with the man-hating goddess, I most certainly wouldn't. the chances I'd survive the meeting were... slim, at best.

"Oh, gods preserve me."

"Ha ha ha! Not likely!" she laughed louder. "Anyways, If you're up, eat the ambrosia on the table. We'd like to get you out of here as soon as we can. And to do that, you have to meet our Lady. And she would never lower herself to meeting a man. You must meet her."

"Alright, alright." I didn't want to be rude, but she was starting to get on my nerves. I managed to reach my arm out and grab the square of ambrosia and eat it. It reminded me of my days as an immortal, and was a small comfort in this otherwise horrible situation. I instantly felt my wounds healing, but I knew I wouldn't be able to walk for the rest of the day, at least. I only hoped no more women would show up to ridicule me. It was wrong of me to think I'd get my hope though, as as soon as this woman left wordlessly, another came to take her place.

She was far more beautiful than the others, with... curves that some men might literally kill each other over, but the cruel look in her eyes made me think she was here to torture me.

"Well, _boy_ , get on your knees and grovel," she said, smiling with a look of pure hatred shining through. "Beg me for your life, and I'll consider letting you live. I don't even know why you're still alive, but my Lady said something about information, so I guess I can't kill you. Yet. What are you waiting for!? Beg!" she spat.

I had lived a long life. Thousands of years, in fact. In those years, I had loved, and lost, fought, won, lost, and met many people I liked, and many people I did not. But never before, in my entire life, had I ever despised someone as much as I despised the _girl_ I saw in front of me. The others had been women, so far, because I could see that they only wanted what was best for their family. They had clearly lived according to their values, and they protected the ones they loved. Yes, one had shot me, but I understood why. On a fundamental level, I respected those women. They didn't respect me, but I could not fault them for that. They spent years believing earnestly that all men are filth, and while I disagree with that, I have probably met many more men than they. But this girl that stood before me, she had no one in mind but herself. She must have known that I was in no shape to be a harm to anyone, and my death would achieve nothing, and yet she insisted that if she so wished, she would kill me, and she would be perfectly just in doing so. She had no respect for anyone. I could see it in her eyes. And I loathed her for it. I let the fire burn in my eyes. But, at the moment, in order to secure my life, I had to bow to her.

I managed to crawl out of the bed, but as soon as I put any weight on them, I knew I wouldn't be able to stand. So, I fell to the ground, and tried to turn to face the girl. I put my head to the ground, prostrating myself completely.

"Please, spare this pathetic man's life, Ma'am!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. My pride hurt beyond belief, prostrating myself before a girl I didn't respect in the least.

"You pass this test at least. Rest now, lest you be unable to answer our Lady's questions. You could still be a traitor, but at least you are a wise one."

I definitely did not expect to hear something like that. And her tone completely changed as well. It sounded infinitely more mature. Before, it must have been an act. Like she said: a test. Even so, I didn't want to die so bad that I'd look up to see her eyes and check. But what I really didn't expect was for her to pick me up and put me back on the bed. Not gently in any way, like a sack of potatoes, but carefully, like a sack of potatoes she was afraid might rip open and spill. It was... very odd.

However, at that point, I grew much too tired to pay attention to the girl-woman, except to glance at her eyes. When our eyes met, I realized what a fool I had been. Her eyes were completely genuine. Thinking back, I realized that there was something fishy about her eyes originally. Now I knew. Deciding that she really was a woman worthy of respect after all, one who valued her companions' safety and trust, I no longer concerned myself with her presence, and fell back into unconsciousness.

* * *

At some point I entered a sort of semi-conscious state, in which I heard, but couldn't really contemplate, a few different conversations.

"So it is him. From the description, I thought he sounded familiar. This is terrible. Now killing him is almost completely off the table at the moment."

"What do you mean? Is he important or something?"

"He isn't exactly, but there _are_ some important people who might be very upset if he died."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, remember how he said he was a soldier? Well, him calling himself a soldier is like a windstorm calling itself a heavy gust."

"So, he was just being modest? But why?"

"Well, if he was being modest, it would be reasonable, because we're the huntresses. Arrogance could mean death around here, and he's far from stupid. But he wasn't being modest, exactly. If he's still the same as when I knew him, it's more like he's selling himself short."

"Selling himself short? What does that mean exactly?"

"Right, I keep forgetting you're not American. It means he's really under-confident. It used to be that when this guy said he could do one thing, he could really do about three times as much. But, since he's apparently made himself mortal, I don't know if that confidence problem got better, or if it got worse. Anyways, some people as high as Olympians are planning on relying on this guy now that he's mortal. He can do all kinds of stuff for them. They'd be pissed if we killed him."

"Oh. Well then. Was he a meanie?"

"He wasn't really mean, no. But I'm not sure how much he's changed. It has been over three hundred years, you know."

"So is he a good guy?"

"I don't know if a guy can ever be _good_ , but he's certainly good as far as guys go."

"Okay. Bye bye!"

"Hey, don't tell anybody else about this okay? Some of our sisters get really upset when there are powerful guys around, because they assume they'll be horrible jerks. Let's keep everybody calm."

 **A different girl speaks.**

"So why are you sitting around waiting for that _boy_ to wake up?"

"I'm making sure he doesn't hurt himself while he's asleep, and we need to know when he wakes up so the elder sisters and our Lady can interrogate him."

"But why do we care?"

"You foolish girl. He is the only one who can physically interact with the barrier. We need to know more about it so we can dispel it."

"But why do we caaaaaaare?"

"We don't yet know if it was a one time trap or if it's effective still."

"But why cant we just kill all the boys who get ear the camp? Why not just kill him now and get it over with?

"Come now, think, child. Certainly there are many who think all men should be eradicated from the planet, but can you really advise cold-blooded murder upon someone who has saved countless mortal lives?"

"Huh? Countless mortal lives? What are you talking about? Him? But he let himself get shot twice! How could he be a decent fighter?"

 _Sigh._ "I'll tell you in a minute, my shift is nearly over."

 **A different girl speaks.**

"So why do we care about this guy again?"

"It's not that _we_ care about him. Rather, it would be troublesome if he dies. He is important to Olympus. They think they can use him."

"Well let them, I say. He's trouble. If they want him, he must be strong. That means he must be an asshole. Let's get rid of him quickly."

"I'm with you there. Even if he is a war hero, he's still a no good man."

"War hero!? Him!?"'

"Yeah. Not one that'll ever get much glory, but still a hero in his own right."

"What do you mean?"

"According to the news we picked up after the battle of Manhattan, after Kronos was defeated, monsters near Mount Othrys went absolutely crazy, running amok through the streets of cities nearby. Apparently, a person named Nathan Grey killed every single monster in San Diego, the only city without demigods, by himself. After studying the remains, we estimate it to have been over two hundred monsters, including some nasty ones, hydras, Nemean lions, manticores, and the like."

"Well, if he did it single handedly, how do we even know he did it?"

"Because he was all over the news. The mortals thought he was some kind of vigilante who defeated an entire crime syndicate in a single day. They called him something lame, like the San Diego Savior or something. But one thing's for sure, at least. If he hadn't been there, thousands of mortals would have died, maybe tens of thousands."

"Huh. Well, he's still a filthy male. We should send him packing. But... can we even do that? If he's as strong as you say he is..."

"Don't worry. The elder sisters can take him on. Probably. And certainly our Lady could smite him with her eyes closed."

* * *

Well, I suppose I should explain. Perhaps I am somewhat stronger than I let on. I am in fact the one who saved San Diego. But that must have just been a fluke, right?

At any rate, I heard no more conversations until I woke up. And when I woke up, wouldn't you know it, but the first think I saw was the cruel woman, standing over me.

"Get up, _boy_. Our Lady and the elder sisters will speak to you now."

Perfect, I thought. Just what I wanted.

* * *

 **Yep, there's your first episode/chapter/thing. Be sure to tell me how you liked it by leaving a review.**

 **I know that some of you may think the OC is going to be very annoying. And you'll just have to get over that, because he's staying. He's necessary. A lot of weird things are going to happen in this story, and we need Nathan to be our voice of reason. He needs to have strength slightly less than Percy's, so I gave him strength slightly less than Percy's right from the start.**

 **If you're already thinking of Nathan's romantic options... well, I admire you, but don't you think these huntresses seem a little different from the hunters you know? He's never going to stop having a rough time of it. But that isn't to say there won't be romance. Because what is a guardian fic without it? Just give it time.**


	2. Why Am I Still Alive?

**Hello, and Welcome to Chapter Two:**

 **Why Am I Still Alive?**

 **I assure you, there will be parody elements very soon. You just have to wait for it. Like most good things in life. You'll see. Hopefully. If you read it. I hope you will read it. It took me several hours. Like, six of 'em. You should be grateful. Writing is hard.  
**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

* * *

Last time...

 _"Get up, boy. Our Lady and the elder sisters will speak to you now."_

 _Perfect, I thought. Just what I wanted._

Now...

"Uhh, right. Okay." I stuttered, trying my hardest not to offend the woman. However, I found myself intrigued by what little I remembered from while I was unconscious. I didn't know about what they had called me on the news. I had left as soon as the monsters were dead. I had only done my job as a soldier. Most monsters were relatively easy to kill, anyways, if you're not afraid of them. Only hydras were a real nuisance, because if you didn't have fire, they were very annoying to kill. Hard, but not impossible. Instead of worrying about the heads, it's easiest to cut off all its legs, and then stab it through the heart from behind. Most monsters had a weak point like that. The Nemean lion, for example, is actually fairly simple to kill. As soon as it opens its mouth to bite you, stab it through the brain via the roof of its mouth. It's certainly dangerous, but if trained properly, anyone can do it. After thousands of years of fighting monsters, it gets easier and easier, and you figure out new ways of doing it. I'm really, really not all that special. I just have a lot of experience.

At any rate, I slung my legs over the side of the bed, and found that, aside from a sharp pain, my muscles were perfectly usable. After thousands of years, you get used to ignoring pain. It is, after all, just a signal to your brain that the nerves are being heavily stimulated. There's no real reason it should have to be painful, really. But, enough of my theories.

I got out of the bed, and shakily stood on two legs. I suddenly realized my weapons were nowhere to be found. I doubted I'd ever see them again. Luckily my sword belt still held up what was left of my pants.

"Come on, we don't have all day, you know," the woman said, impatiently.

"Alright, I'm sorry, Miss... um, what should I call you?" I inquired.

"Don't call me anything. You don't need to speak to me. I'd prefer it if you only spoke when spoken to, _boy,_ " she fired back.

"Understood," I said, trying to avoid the beautiful woman's wrath.

I followed fer out of the tent, ignoring the pain that shot through my legs whenever I took a step. Outside the tent was the camp I had briefly seen when I ran through it the first time. There were fifteen or so tents, but I still wasn't sure of the number of members in the Hunt after the war. Before the war, I believe they were around thirty five strong, if what the reports said were true. Unless they slept three to a tent, or there were no tents for supplies or anything, they must have taken a huge blow. I felt sorry for them, losing so much of their family at once. I had never had a family, myself, but I had always wanted one. I could imagine how it would feel if I had finally gotten one, and then it was ripped away from me. I doubt I'd have any patience for the people I hated. I really sympathized with the women of the Hunt. But, it wasn't the time for sympathy. I had to follow the bossy woman to 'the elder sisters,' or whatever their lawmaking body was. If I wasn't careful to be as unassuming as possible, I wouldn't make it out alive.

The woman took me to a tent slightly larger than the rest and, once inside, it seemed to be dimensionally transcendental, which is to say, it was bigger on the inside. I was used to such enchantments, so it didn't especially surprise me. What did surprise me was the fact that the so called 'elder sisters' were in fact three women and Artemis sitting at a plastic folding table. Once the woman escorting me took her seat, it was four women and Artemis, two women sat on either side of the goddess.

Artemis spoke first.

"So, boy. It seems you are not a traitor. Just to be sure, would you mind swearing an oath on the Styx?" she said, almost too politely.

"I am not, and never have been a traitor to Olympus in any way. This I swear upon the river Styx," I said solemnly. Thunder cracked, accepting my words as truth.

"Well, now that that is out of the way, Nathan Grey, explain what it is you're doing here," Artemis said, in the same polite tone. It was starting to freak me out.

"Well, your Ladyship, I was returning to Olympus to see if I could regain my immortality after the war was over, when I smashed into an invisible wall of force and blacked out. When I came to, the wall was pushing me back the way I came, so I ran the direction it was forcing me, only to run directly through this camp, and then smash into another wall. I tried to find where the boundary ended in order to leave, only to eventually find that I was running in circles. It is my belief that this invisible wall exist for me alone, one mile from the nearest hunter to me. I swear all this is true upon the river Styx. The rest you have been informed of, I presume." I spoke as calmly as possible, although my legs were still causing me much pain.

"I see. Boy, have you angered anyone recently? We need to get to the bottom of this, you see. Perhaps you've done something to offend Aphrodite?" Artemis asked, again in the creepily polite tone.

"Your Ladyship, I remember doing nothing of the like. This I-"

"We get it boy. No need to make Styx upset with all these oaths," the woman on the far right said. She had fiery red hair, and, like all the Huntresses so far, was exceedingly beautiful.

Artemis spoke again. "Well, before we continue, we're going to make sure all our bases are covered. We need you to attempt to escape vertically."

"Vertically?" I asked.

"Yes. We'd like you to climb a tree, and attempt to jump over the barrier, if possible. It may be however, that the wall is spherical in nature, extending horizontally over you as well."

It was at this moment that my brain decided to truly look at Artemis. She looked about 18, the same as almost every Huntress I'd seen. She had auburn hair and silver eyes, very shocking to the senses. She had a delicate sort of face, but her expression showed her age and wisdom somehow. The look in her eyes showed her true strength. It was a surreal experience, when my eye caught hers. It was only for a second, but there was so much emotion packed into it that I forgot to speak for a moment. It wasn't that I suddenly had feelings for her or anything. I didn't feel anything romantic towards her, or any Huntress. It wouldn't make much sense. I respected the ones I'd met so far, to a certain point, just for doing what they believe is right, but I couldn't say I really wanted any of them as a partner, especially not the maiden goddess herself. I just gained a sort of extra respect for her that I hadn't had before.

Eventually I realized I had stared just a second too long at Artemis, which was a huge mistake. I knew that the women would think I had something perverted in mind, when I really didn't, and it would just make my life that much harder.

"Right, I'll go do that. I swear on the Styx I will do everything in my power to escape from here. Since the wall won't appear unless I'm a mile a way from you, you'd have no Idea if I really tried or not. Sorry I keep swearing oaths. I didn't see a way around it." I saw some of the elder sisters rolling their eyes at me, which I didn't really mind. At least they weren't trying to kill me.

"Wait. Before you go, I have one last question. Do you want to be here?" This time it was the cruel woman from earlier. She sat on Artemis's immediate right.

The question startled me a small bit, but I answered immediately. "Absolutely not. I swear upon the-"

"I believe you. Go now," the cruel woman interrupted me.

I turned on my heel and left the tent. As I left the encampment, I didn't see a single Huntress, but when you've lived as long as I have, you know when you're being watched. I was certain that every set of eyes in the camp was on me. I felt sorry for the deer in this forest.

* * *

I made my way back to where the first Huntress found me, and saw two trails of dried blood. At the sight of them, my legs started aching once again. It was going to be tough climbing the tree.

But, I made an oath on the Styx. As a mortal, the consequences for breaking it could be death or worse.

I quickly found the edge of the barrier, and found a tree that it bisected. I started the slow climb up the tree, slipping every once and a while. Half an hour and several scrapes and bruises later, I reached the top of the tree. And, unsurprisingly, the wall was still there, thirty feet up. I tried my hardest to jump, but I didn't make it very high with my legs so beaut up. I focused my mind solely on jumping, and managed a fairly good jump. Unfortunately, I hit a bit of trouble on the way back down. As I tried to land the jump, my foot slipped, and I crashed all the way down the tree. When I finally reached the bottom, I estimated that I had broken my right shin.

I sat on the ground, moaning for a while. My leg wounds had been reopened, and now my leg was broken too. It wasn't ideal, but I should be able to crawl back to the camp. I didn't really want to be seen in such a state, but what choice did I have? I started crawling back.

Progress was slow. It probably took me about three hours or so to get back. I made it to the edge of camp, but I was about to pass out. I barely made it there to begin with. No one was in sight, but I knew there were Huntresses watching me. I turned to a nearby tree that I could tell one was hiding in.

"Tell Artemis... Lady Artemis... that I'm trapped. There's... no way out... I apologize."

With that, I blacked out once again.

* * *

I came to in the familiar place that I was beginning to think was the infirmary tent. I looked around for ambrosia, but there was none. I supposed I'd have to 'earn' it, or something ridiculous. I had a feeling whatever it was wouldn't be good for me.

I noticed someone coming in, and found it was the first woman who I saw last time I was here. I was surprised she wasn't on the council or whatever. She seemed mature enough. I hadn't noticed while I was there because I was too focused on not getting killed.

"I bet you're wondering why there's no ambrosia this time," she said, not necessarily kindly.

I'm sure I looked surprised, and perhaps frightened, because she continued, "Don't look so perturbed. There's a good reason. We have a proposition for you. But, I'm just the doctor around here. I won't be the one conversing with you. That honor goes to Zoe. I believe you've met?"

Just then, the tent flap opened, and the so-called 'cruel woman' stepped in.

"I am the Lieutenant of the Huntresses, Zoe Nightshade. We have been testing you since you ended up here. Don't even think of interrupting me," she told me, before I had a chance to speak.

The doctor stepped out of the room. Apparently this conversation was some sort of secret.

"You are Nathan Grey, war hero, and, for the time being, a mortal. I'm sure you're aware that being mortal grants you certain... advantages. I'm sure you also know that Olympus is a place full of treachery and court intrigue. Normally, our Lady Artemis would stay out of such dirty games, but in this case, it involves her directly. You are the embodiment of a type of wind that can carry a group of men off their feet in an instant. So, as a mortal fighter, you are very strong. For a boy, anyways. Being such a strong mortal fighter, there are many on Olympus who would seek to use you. In particular, we have word that Aphrodite had plans to use you for... unsavory purposes. As such, we wish to keep you from Olympus at all costs. However, if you never arrived in Olympus at all, there would be much confusion, and people would come searching for you. So, to keep you out of Aphrodite's clutches, but still seem ordinary, the elder sisters offer you this: swear fealty to Artemis, and we will heal you. Naturally you will have our full support in getting you out of here. But, what this would mean is-"

"I have to do exactly what the Huntresses say for as long as I live. And if I don't swear fealty, you'll make my life a living hell while my leg heals. I get it. Clever." I made my tone as light and friendly as possible. I don't know why, but something about this girl, Zoe, made me want to do whatever she said. She was incredibly beautiful, with coppery skin and pitch black hair. She seemed intelligent, and... it wouldn't serve me well to dwell on this girl. I quickly decided that fealty to Artemis was nothing compared to the hell that the Huntresses could dish out while I was here.

"Show me to Artemis. I'll swear fealty right now. I have no master, and I'd rather have it be Artemis than some unknown god or goddess. Although, isn't this highly irregular? To have a male servant?"

Zoe quickly silenced me. "It's not although you'll be a part of the hunt. You will camp at the edge of the barrier, and you will be informed of our movements a few hours before we travel. Understood?"

"Yes." This was happening rather quickly. I somewhat liked the quick pace. I wondered if the rest of my time here would be like. "But I do have a question."

"What is it, boy?"

"Once I arrive in Olympus, what will be expected of me?"

"You will turn down every offer of work except for the maiden goddesses. However, you will inform us of any offers via Iris message. You will never do something that harms Artemis without our Lady's express permission. Understood?"

"Understood. I have a minor request. Might I have some sort of hunting weapon for food, and my canteen for water?"

Zoe gave me a look that meant she would enjoy my difficulty immensely. This couldn't be good.

"We've prepared a tent for you, with some items of use inside. You will not die, if you are skilled enough. Come with me."

I looked at her dumbfounded. "Lieutenant, my leg is still-"

"I know," she said simply.

With a severe limp and no small amount of groaning, I eventually made it inside the tent I was in before. This time, it was just Artemis. She looked straight at me with an expectant look.

Wasting no time, I rested my weight on my knee on my good leg, in a strange sort of bow. I had heard oaths of fealty before, and launched into my own.

"I hereby swear myself to the service of Artemis, and her Hunt. I will live to serve her in any way I can. I will not intentionally hurt her or any of her followers, and I will help them and protect them as they were my own flesh and blood. This I swear upon the river Styx."

Artemis nodded, acknowledging the validity of my oath.

A huge boom of thunder cascaded overhead, many times larger than an ordinary oath. I had just sworn my life away. Who knows? It could be fun.

* * *

Before I left the camp, I ate a square of ambrosia, and I felt my leg healing. Zoe had told me that no one outside of the elder sisters knew about my oath of fealty, and that I should still expect harsh treatment. I didn't think I'd be getting any better treatment anyways though, so it didn't bother me much. I did however realize that if I was attacked, I would have to be very careful with how I defended myself.

After I set up my tent on the edge of the barrier, I got to find out what I had been left to survive with. The list was as follows:

1 one gallon canteen (filled)

1 6 inch throwing dagger

And that was it. No sleeping bag, no bandages, no blankets, no swords, nothing. One dagger. One canteen. This was sure to be a lot of fun. I knew I still had to rest my leg, so I sat up against a tree, and tried my hand with the throwing dagger. I had had training with them many years ago, and I prayed I still remembered the basics. I hurled it at a tree fifteen meters or so away, around fifty feet, that I thought was dead, and the dagger sunk into the tree past th end of the blade.

I sighed. It would be a pain to get it out of the tree. At least I'd be able to hunt, later. I drifted off into an uncomfortable, dreamless sleep.

I was woken up by the sound of a small child clumsily trudging towards me. I could tell by the sound of the leaves beneath her feet. I had no idea the hunt harbored one this young. She was probably only 6 or 7. Suddenly, the noises stopped. I could feel her looking at me from behind the tree I'd thrown the knife at earlier without even opening my eyes. I let the girl think I was asleep for a few more minutes, to see if she'd leave. I had no qualms, but if the others found out she was here, I'd have a hard time explaining it.

Finally, I realized she wasn't leaving without me telling her to. I said in the gentlest tone I could muster, with my eyes still closed, "Go back to the camp, young one."

I heard her tiny gasp, and I heard what I thought was her hiding behind the tree.

"I'm sure your big sisters are worried about you. Go back to them," I said, still gentle.

I heard a tiny noise that indicated discontentment. I didn't want her to leave upset, and on top of that if she did I'd look bad.

"What's wrong, little one? You can come out from behind that tree. I'm unarmed. Take a look at the tree from the other side."

I heard her walk around it., and a little gasp.

"That was my only weapon. My leg is still broken, so I can't hurt you. Okay? Just tell me what's wrong."

At this, I opened my eyes. It was a little Asian girl, probably only 6 years old. I worried why she'd be in the hunt this young. Something awful must have happened. My heart softened even more.

She said, in a voice I remembered from when I was semi-conscious the other day, "You don't seem like a big meanie."

I chuckled softly. "Well that's probably because I'm not a meanie. You don't have to be afraid. You can come closer, if you want."

She moved about ten feet closer, still thirty feet away. "Everybody said you were a big meanie. I wanted to see if it was true."

"Well, your big sisters don't like men very much at all. Most guys really are big meanies. It's a lot easier just to believe all guys are meanies than have to decide which are and which aren't, especially when so many are."

"So you're not?" This girl was seriously cute. I decided that I wouldn't let this girl get hurt above all the other huntresses I swore I'd protect.

"No, I'm not. But don't tell your sisters I told you. They'll get mad at me."

"How come? If you're not a meanie, then why would they get mad at you for saying you aren't?" This girl seriously liked to say meanie.

"Well, if a big meanie said he wasn't a meanie, he'd be lying, right? And people get mad when meanies lie about stuff."

"Oh. Well, I don't think you're a meanie."

"Thank you, young one."

"My name is Ayano, not young one!" she pouted.

"I'm sorry, little one. I mean, Ayano." I chuckled a bit. "Run along, Ayano. Get back to your sisters, before they get too worried."

"Okay, Mr. ... uh, what's your name again mister?"

"I'm called Nate. Nice to meet you Ayano."

Before I realized it, the girl had run up to me, hugged me, and run off. She seemed awfully trusting for a huntress, even a child Huntress. To say I was worried about her was an understatement.

"Bye bye Mr. Nate!"

That was certainly the first time I'd heard that one. I wasn't sure I liked it, but this little girl was cute enough that it didn't matter what she said.

I drifted back to sleep before I knew it, but little did I know that when I woke up, I'd be in a heap of trouble.

* * *

I woke up when they were the same distance as Ayano had been. While each one was stealthier, there were six in all, so they made about the same amount of noise altogether as Ayano by herself. They clearly thought they were much stealthier than they thought, since they just kept moving forward stealthily, each one passing the tree with my only weapon. No, that was wrong. One stayed back. I realized this fight would be incredibly difficult if they ganged up on me. Huntresses weren't known for hand to hand combat, but five against one with no weapon were absolutely terrible odds. On top of that, I couldn't hurt them at all. Luckily, I knew a few tricks. I wasn't sure if they'd work in such a situation, though.

A voice I didn't recognize started shouting.

"How dare you poison the mind of a child! You're twisted. We won't allow this!. Wake up, _boy_!" she had an unpleasant tone, but not an unpleasant voice.

I opened my eyes to the sight of five women dual wielding hunting knives. Yep, I was in trouble, if I couldn't think of a way to even the odds.

"Stand up and prepare to fight us. Or are you a coward, too?"

I was starting to dislike this woman. Still, she thought she was justified, and I could see it in a way. I made an oath, and I would never break it. Perhaps I could treat it as an instructional match? Hmmm. Suddenly it dawned on me.

I stood, and spoke clearly, "Surely you would not fight an unarmed, inferior man five to one? Please, let us fight in duels. I implore you. Your skill against mine."

I knew her honor couldn't look my statements by.

"Fine. First will be Helga. Prepare for a thrashing, _boy._ "

One of the five stepped forward, and the leader shouted, "Begin!"

My opponent was roughly five foot eight, and wore no armor. I noted the length of her blade, before she came at me with a vengeance.

Her first strike was with her main hand, and was a thrust straight to the abdomen. I noted this and pushed out my off hand and guided her arm so that it barely missed me. Her follow up was a cut across under her wayward first strike, so I merely backed up enough that she didn't hit me, making sure to keep my weight on my good leg.

She seemed stunned for a second, but continued her assault. She decided to go with a dual overhand chop, an odd choice with her weapons, and I easily guided her strikes with my hands down to my sides. She attempted to kick me, but I stepped back enough to avoid it, again careful of my mending shin. At this point, she was frustrated.

She attempted to charge me with both daggers, so I made a large side step and pulled her arms in the direction she was charging, and overextending, she lost her balance and fell to the ground. She was gutting up, which fury in her eyes, when the leader of the group said, "Enough, Helga. It's clear that you have no chance. He is highly skilled in hand to hand combat. Let me take this clown."

It was obvious that Helga was fuming, but she had enough respect for her sister that she stood down. It must have been that Helga was the second strongest, as the other three hadn't participated at all before the fight with their leader.

I spoke up before the leader had a chance to start fighting.

"I never caught your name, you know. I'd like to know the name of my opponent."

"My name is Phoebe. And I'm going to put you in your place, _boy_."

I didn't want to be any ruder than I had been, so I said nothing.

That was when Phoebe threw her hunting knife straight at my head.

I'm not exactly certain how, but I caught it in my hand without so much as a scratch.

I swear I wasn't trying to be sarcastic when I said it, but I told her, "I believe I have something that belongs to you." Even I was amazed I had caught the knife.

Unfortunately, I did not catch the arrow speeding towards my stomach. I managed to move just enough that it wasn't in a vital spot, but it hurt like hell, and it probably looked like I was dead, as I slumped to my knees and fell backwards. I wasn't aware of anything.

"Aaaaah!" I screamed.

From far away, I heard "Mr. Nate!"

It must have been Ayano.

"Mr. Nate! Mr. Nate!" Her cries were getting louder. I wasn't sure what the five-no, six-were doing.

I felt Ayano's presence near me, as I lay bleeding on the ground.

"Mr. Nate! I'm so sorry! I told them you weren't a big meanie even though you told me not to! And now you're gonna die and it's all my fault!"

I had to correct her. If I didn't tell her she was wrong, she'd be unhappy. I knew I wasn't going to die, but I was going to lose consciousness in a matter of moments. The black was closing in around my vision already.

"It's not your fault, young one. It's... my fault... for provoking them. And I'm not... going to die. I'm just... going to go... to sleep... for a little while. Remember that it... isn't your fault, okay? It's not your fault. And... get off of me already. You'll get your clothes dirty."

With that, as I heard Ayano's sniffles on my chest, I blacked out, for what seemed like the hundredth time.

* * *

 **Well, how do you like your semi-unreliable narrator? Isn't he a gem? He doesn't know how to quantify his power, so you'll always be guessing. And who is Ayano? Is she important? No, of course not. It's a Guardian parody, no one is important. Well, it'll be a guardian parody soon enough anyways. The next chapter will be the last chapter before we get into the zany parody stuff. This exposition is unfortunately necessary. Luckily, it's in the form of an actually ok guardian story(I hope).**

 **Remember to review and tell me how you think I did, and favorite or follow it if you want to know when I realease updates. I noticed some mistakes in the first chapter, basic syntax and things, so I'm re releasing the first chapter as well. Well, sayonara!**


	3. I'm Really In the Hunt, Now?

**I'd like to say something. No one has mentioned any, but if you see an error, with grammar or anything, please forgive me. I type very inaccurately, and I often don't catch mistakes. I hope they won't throw you off. Other than that, please enjoy this chapter. It's nearly 8000 words without the A/Ns, which is a whole hell of a lot. This was worth the two day wait, if I do say so myself, all three of you waiting for this chapter.  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

* * *

I woke up in the familiar tent, and found the square of ambrosia. I eagerly wolfed it down, as my stomach still hurt quite a bit. As I felt my wound start to mend, I looked around the tent. I found Ayano asleep in a chair by the side of the bed, and I wondered why they'd let a child sleep in such an unhealthy way. I also wondered just how long I'd be unconscious. She needed to get to a real bed or she'd be hurting when she woke up. I was also wondering what had happened to Phoebe and the rest of her gang.

I was debating whether or not to wake Ayano up when the doctor came in. Before she had a chance to say anything, in a quiet voice I asked, "What happened to Phoebe and the others? They haven't been punished, have they?"

I know it seems odd I said this. But consider my position. I knew Ayano was right here, so I could ask about her myself. I knew how I was doing, because I've been wounded like this dozens of times in my life. And most importantly, I knew that if people were punished for something they might not have done, it could completely polarize a unit of men. I'd seen it happen during the war, before everyone spread out, anyways. It could be absolutely devastating. And if the hunt had problems, this wouldn't be the last time I'd be targeted. If I said what I had, I'd learn the most that I could, and I could seem ultra caring. Although, it's not as though I didn't care for them. I was just... looking out for everyone's best interest, including mine. I certainly didn't think that they should have been punished if it wouldn't cause morale problems. They didn't really deserve to be punished for doing what they thought was just, or maybe it had been an accident, or... You know, as I write this to you now, I have a lot more time to think than I had then. But as with most people who were learned of the true ways of the world, I thought in terms of feelings whenever I could. Mind reading magic was a lot harder to work, and it saved time. So While all of this would take half a minute to think word by word, I could do it in just under a single second. Perks of being immortal for so long, I guess.

"You are a very strange boy, Mr. Grey. You're shot by a woman in the abdomen, and on waking up from unconsciousness, you inquire about her well being. Of course they haven't been punished. Take care not to gain too large a sense of self importance. The elder sisters decided to inform me of your... situation, since you seem to be here so often. I knew some sort of arrangement had been made, but I never expected you to swear fealty so quickly. It seems quite suspicious. You shouldn't even think of letting it go to your head." The doctor seemed not to mind my presence all that much. I suppose only early huntresses would let their discomfort show physically. One could hate, and yet be cordial. I had no real problems with this arrangement.

"I'm fine with being suspicious. It's no real problem of mine. I am glad they weren't punished. I only hope they learned what I was trying to teach them." I replied.

The doctors eyes narrowed. "Teach them?" It seemed she must have thought I meant teach them that males are superior, which of course isn't true. While the average male was stronger physically than the average woman, a great many women were stronger than men, and in higher level fighting techniques, differences in strength are minimized. Skill tops any physical differences between men and women. Only fools believed otherwise.

"Yes. While the arrow was aimed to kill, their hand to hand combat could use work. I hoped they learned something from the fight, otherwise it would have been utterly pointless." I explained.

"Hold on, you say the arrow was aimed to kill? It hit you in one of the only non lethal spots in the abdominal region." She seemed quite surprised. It seemed they had assumed their intention wasn't to kill me.

"Of course. I knew their was one with their sights set on me who had stayed behind, probably in case I gained the upper hand and attempted to kill one of the huntresses. She must have panicked after I caught Phoebe's knife." I was somewhat surprised. I would have expected for the doctor to know what happened.

"So you're aware they attempted to kill you, and not only do you show indifference, but you are worried about them? What possible reason do you have?" she inquired.

"Listen closely, Miss... uh, what should I call you?" I realized I didn't know her name. I doubted this was the last I'd see of her, so I decided finding her name was paramount.

"Claire is my name," she supplied.

"Listen closely, Miss Claire. I didn't swear fealty to Lady Artemis just to heal my leg more quickly. I respect her, and if she decided to accept the oaths of those huntresses, then they must, at some level, be good people. I'm sure they had their reasons. Perhaps the woman with the bow just got scared. In any case, the very thing they despise now must live near them for the forseeable future. I wouldn't expect anyone to accept that blindly. And I'm more than capable of keeping myself alive. So, they didn't bother me too much. I just hope Ayano doesn't suffer from back problems from sleeping slumped over in that chair like that.

At that moment it seemed that Claire realized Ayano was here, and Ayano started waking up.

"That little rascal. I didn't even notice her. When did she sneak in here again?" Claire seemed like Ayano was always sneaking off somewhere. I felt somewhat touched that Ayano had snuck in here without permission, even though it was worrisome. I wondered what I'd done to leave such an impression on her.

"She's been trying to get in here for days. She only made it in the first time." She sighed. "What are we going to do with her?"

"I imagine a lot of folks won't be happy that she's attached to me."

Ayano chose that time to spring out of her chair and latch onto my neck with her arms.

"Mr. Nate! You're okay! My big sisters kept trying to keep me out of here, but I snuck in anyways!"

"I see that, little one. You need to listen to your big sisters more, Ayano. They only have your best interests in mind. You shouldn't make them worried." I was in a sort of dilemma, here. Did I make Ayano happy by letting her stay near me and giving her what she wanted, or did I keep her away, and give the rest of the Huntresses what they wanted? I decided to try to keep it to a healthy medium, by encouraging Ayano to do what the rest wanted, but not forcing her. It was really down to Ayano, when you get down to it.

"Okay Mr. Nate. I'll try," she responded sweetly.

"You can just call me Nate. We're friends, so it's okay." It was just really weird hearing her calling me that.

"We're friends?" she asked, incredulously.

"Do you want to be?"

"Miss Claire, can me and Mr. Nate Be friends?" Ayano asked Claire.

"Only if you and me can be friends too, Ayano." Claire responded. I shot her a grateful look. She really did me a solid there, when she could have shot Ayano down. Even if it was with a child, I was glad to have at least one friend in the Hunt.

Then Ayano asked Claire something that would've made me spit take if I had been drinking. Luckily, there was no nectar, so I was safe.

"Then, can you and Nate be friends? I promise he's not a meanie." Ayano seemed so desperate and innocent that if I'd been a huntress, I might've said yes immediately. However, Claire seemed to be in a sort of state of shock over this, so I spoke for her.

"I'm afraid not, young one. Perhaps in a very long time, but not for many years, Ayano. They won't believe I'm not a meanie in disguise for five years at least. I'm sorry." I hoped I hadn't been wrong with my estimate. I stole a glance at Claire, and it seemed like she approved.

"I'm sorry, too, Ayano. But... _Nathan_ is about right. I'm afraid we can't be friends for a very long time." Claire seemed like it was very hard for her to squeeze my real name out, instead of simply 'boy.'

Unfortunately, Ayano was clearly crestfallen as she said, "Okay. I wish you guys could be friends, but if you think he's a meanie, I guess you can't be."

I spoke up before this got any more awkward. "Ayano, it's clear you're still tired, so why don't you go sleep in your own bed, now that you know I'm okay?" I hoped she'd just do what I said.

"Mmmmm... okay," she said, clearly disappointed.

"Goodbye, little one. I'll see you another time."

As soon as she left, I asked Claire, "Is there any update on the barrier?"

She looked indignant. "How should we know? You're the only one who can interact with it. Although, we've never actually seen it happen, for obvious reasons. But, I believe you that it's real. You'll find many who think they know better than the elder sisters and think you made it up, but virtually all seasoned huntresses believe you. But none trust you, yet. Except Ayano, it seems. She swears up and down that you're a good person, but she can't explain why. There's a whole lot that suspicious about you, you know. You told Ayano five years, but it'll probably be longer than that. Though I certainly hope you're out of here by then."

"I hope so too. I hope you won't think me rude, but I think I'll go back to sleep, if it's alright with you, doctor."

"Yes. I hadn't expected you to be up this early. Get some rest. When you're healed, the hunt is heading due West. Make sure you've got your things packed."

"As you wish." With that, it was lights out for me.

* * *

When I prepared to leave, Ayano ran up to me. I really didn't want to keep her away and hurt her feelings, but I knew I couldn't have her come with me.

She said, "Can I come with you Nate? I wanna play."

I sighed and told her, "Why don't you play with you big sisters? I'm sure you'll have lots of fun, and so will they."

"Darn. I guess I should. Bye bye Nate!" she said, and ran off.

Unfortunately, the five girls from before and another, presumably the archer, approached menacingly, and with anger clearly shining on their faces. This couldn't be good.

It was, surprisingly, one of the girls who hadn't fought who spoke, but not the archer.

"After a long time, we decided. We'd like to apologize for shooting you!" she shouted.

I was incedibly surprised. "Uhh, um, don't worry about it. No one's dead. I'll be happy to take any of you on at any time. But this time, let's decide on it more formally. Deal?" I stuck out my hand.

Phoebe slapped my hand away and said, "Fat chance, _boy_. We'll fight you when we feel like it, so get ready."

I wasn't in a position to argue, at the moment.

"Alright. I can live with that."

After I arrived at my camp, the first order of business was freeing my knife. That would be completely vital. When I arrived back at the tree, I realized that it would be a lot harder than I first realized. Only about an inch of the handle was outside the tree. It would be easier to crack the tree in half than to pull the knife out. So, that was what I decided to do.

I decided I would kick the edge of the knife, hopefully making the break easier. Certainly the kick would have to be expertly aimed. Thankfully, I had a lot of faith in my martial arts skill, and the tree was mostly dead anyways.

I stood about twenty meters back, sixty five feet or so, so I could build up to my max sprinting speed. A few feet before I reached the blade, I jumped into the air, turned sideways, and caught the handle perfectly on my heel. It completely buried itself in the tree, from what I felt.

When I inspected it closer, it seemed that the knife was indeed now full in the tree. I hoped I'd be able to break the tree.

I got about the same head start, charged and kicked, and the tree did indeed snap.I landed expertly, and recovered the knife. Luckily, amazingly, and awesomely, it wasn't bent or dulled. I fully expected my luck to run out soon. I stuck the knife in my pocket, and took down my tent. I'd soon have to get on the move.

I had barely slung the tent bag over my shoulder when the barrier pushed me forward, and I started to run. The Hunt moved very quickly, but I was quicker. I kept one hand on the barrier to see when we stopped, and though it was a awkward position, it was child's play to keep up with the hunt.

It been about six hours when the barrier stopped moving. I waited for a few minutes to make sure they weren't just catching their breath or something, and I pulled the tent out of the bag. It was lightly enchanted, just to make the tent in the bag, but I had to manually set it up. I was sure the Lieutenant had something to do with that. No doubt the Huntresses self constructing tents or something. Not to mention that my tent was barely big enough to hold maybe two people, certainly not any bigger on the inside. Maybe it was even smaller, though that seemed unlikely.

I had just gotten a fairly straight, strong stick, and had begun carving it to remove the knots and perfect it, the first step into making a spear, which was a past time of mine, when the barrier pushed me forwards off the fallen log I was sitting on, and kept pushing. Great. I had just lost my tent and my canteen, which was inside the tent. I needed those.

Perhaps I wasn't thinking clearly, but I decided the best thing to do was to ask the Huntresses for help, so I started running as fast as I could, only carrying the knife. I'm not sure how I knew, but I had a feeling that by the end of this, I'd cherish my knife more than anything.

I'd sprinted for several minutes when I finally caught up to to the Hunt.

The moment I spoke, all heads turned towards me, some indifferent, most slightly angry, with only Ayano's face happy.

"Excuse me. I started setting up camp when you stpped earlier, which was a foolish mistake. I underestimated you, and if you chose not to allow me to retrieve it, it might be considered my punishment. However, I would really much rather one of you run back with me and allow me to get my stuff back. Please!" I beg-shouted.

Ayano happily said, "I'll do it!" but I knew she wasn't nearly fast enough, and it seemed the Lieutenant knew this as well, as she stepped forward and put her arm out in front of Ayano.

"I will go. Do not slow down. We will be back soon." A lot of faces turned from anger to confusion, and then to a look of sick pleasure. It seemed they thought Zoe would torture me, or something. I wasn't sure what.

Zoe stopped me from thinking when she told me, "Try to match pace, boy."

She took off at a full sprint, and I had to run at my ordinary running speed to keep up, 15 mph.

She said, "I am surpised you can keep up with me. I am only second to Atalanta in terms of running speed, but she doesn't know you or like you."

"Didn't Atalanta get eaten by a bear or something?" I asked, before I could stop myself.

Zoe let out a small smile, one of pleasure that men were all stupid, I'm sure.

"Not exactly, no. And that isn't our Atalanta. You presume too much. As a side note, why on Earth did you think we had stopped for the day?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I thought that six hours was probably a normal time to run for mortals. I suppose I forgot you aren't mortals."

"It had nothing to do with us being women?"

I was taken aback. Honestly, I had never considered it.

"No. Never crossed my mind, actually. Though if you believe me or not is up to you, in the end."

"You forget I have been alive as long as you, Nathan Grey. I have learned to see through lies, probably as you have. You are telling the truth."

"I'm glad you believe me. It means a lot. Thank you." I said, earnestly. If I had been looking at Zoe when I said it. I would have seen the very faintest of blushes on her face. Thinking back on it now, I don't even think Zoe herself noticed it, at the time.

We were silent until we came upon my camp, and Zoe left as soon as I got there. I'd only have a few minutes to take down the tent.

As soon as the bag was over my shoulder, the barrier hit me once again. And this time, quickly. I was sent sprawling to the forest floor, and was dragged along at fifteen miles an hour for a few seconds, until I managed to get up. Great another injury. Rug burn.

It was another six hours before they stopped again. I wondered how Ayano was able to keep up for so long. Maybe someone was carrying her.

This time, I waited a full hour before unpacking the tent. In the meantime, I kept perfecting the spear. After the hour, i was in a shape that meant it was ready for the spearhead and the butt. I would check to see if they had any chipped spearheads they didn't need. I only had a knife, and I desperately needed a melee weapon to replace my swords.

* * *

The first order of business was to get food. Luckily, there was a small stream in the woods were we staying in, about two thousand feet towards the huntress camp. It was probably about halfway between us. Anyways, my spear was intended to be a real spear, not just a pointed stick, so my only usable weapon was my throwing knife. I decided to start hunting, even though in a public park it wasn't technically legal. I used the mist to conceal my camp from any park rangers or other people from snooping. Camping probably wasn't allowed here.

I looked around for any tracks, and after about half an hour, I found deer tracks. I followed as quietly as I could, until I finally found it. I was about three hundred feet away - very very far for a throwing knife. But I was pretty sure I could make it. That is, until an arrow pierced its heart from the other direction. The huntresses beat me, and made it so the deer didn't suffer for a second. They were truly experts.

I found some more tracks, and followed another deer, until once again it was killed before I had a chance. But this time, the arrow came from the side.

It happened again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Every time I found a deer, the Huntresses killed it before I had a chance.

It must have been that they were following me, and then passing me once they saw the deer before me. After all, they all had the blessing of a goddess. I was just very very old. Blessings overcame experience, in the case of hunting. I knew that nothing would come of confronting the Huntresses. I just hoped they could eat all the meat. I wouldn't forgive them for killing just to annoy someone. I believed that was what they were doing was just that, but if they also ate, and subsequently didn't need to hunt for a while, then it would be alright. I decided to refill my canteen at the creak, since I was starving. I decided I needed to fill up on water, or it'd be hard to sleep. The only food I'd had for a while was squares of ambrosia, and it took a lot of energy to run and heal. I probably only had a week to live, if I didn't get food.

I filled up the canteen without difficulty, and I was able to sleep on the hard ground, though I woke up with a wicked crick in my neck. I decided that I really couldn't handle a whole deer. I'd hunt for something small the next day.

I don't want to explain the horrible specifics of killing a badger, so I won't. I made a fire pit, and painstakingly made a fire with friction. You know, spinning a stick against a log. Luckily it hadn't rained for a while, so the fire started easily.

Having eaten, I decided I'd just sit and think.

I thought about everyone I'd met. Phoebe, who didn't like me. Claire, who was indifferent. Ayano, who liked me. And Zoe, who... I wasn't sure. Well, she didn't like me for sure. But I don't think she disliked me over other non-trash men

I wasn't sure about how I felt. I'd hope we'd be friends, and seeing Ayano just reminded me how much I wanted to raise a family. I'd never found anyone I respected enough that I wanted to be a mother of my children. But when I did find someone like that, after I got out of here... I'm not sure what I'd do. I didn't know how courtship worked. I'd seen how bad courting worked, one night stands, stalkerish obsession, forcing the issue. I might just try to be friends with whoever I fell for. Let them make the first move. Who knows.

I did feel sort of like a father to Ayano. At any rate, I thought I do something nice for me.

For the next four days, I hunted small animals, and I crafted a set of four wooden knives. If Ayano ever made it here, maybe I'd teach her hand to hand combat.

Interestingly, the first person who came to see me was Zoe. She came to tell me we were going. Unfortunately, she saw the wooden knives.

"What are those for?" she said on the way out.

"Teaching," I replied curtly.

"Teaching who?"

"Well, no one yet. I was thinking if Ayano or one of the younger hunters wanted, they could learn hand to hand combat from me. It seemed like Phoebe and her friends could use work, so if they wanted to help, I'd help them. I did swear that in my oath of fealty. That I'd help all followers of Artemis. It's my duty." I said. I realized as I was talking that I had indeed sworn to help the Hunt.

"That could be... interesting. Maybe we should let her come here like she wishes. With supervision, of course. You are undeniably the one with the most free time, and you are exceptionally skilled. There's no one can dispute that, whether you are a male or not. You might even... nevermind. We're going soon. Don't set up until you're sure we're stopped."

* * *

It was a few days before anything interesting happened. I had just gotten back from hunting when I heard two people approaching from the woods, not attempting to keep stealthy at all. It was Zoe, followed by Ayano.

I said, "What brings you here, you two?"

"Ayano wants to learn from you. I'm here to supervise." Zoe seemed a lot like Ayano's mother, dropping her off at practice or something. I could see it.

"I'm sorry I haven't anything to offer you while you wait. I'm in the middle of crafting tablewear from trees that have fallen, but I've only made a plate so far. I mostly just use my canteen for water. I apologize." I truly didn't want to make Zoe dislike me. My life could only get worse with her as my opponent.

"Don't worry about it. This isn't a social call. I'm only here to make sure Ayano doesn't get hurt," she said earnestly.

"Well, my training doesn't involve anyone getting hurt. Don't worry. Please, stay and watch, though. I could use some trust. I'm going to need to sharpen my knife at the main camp, soon, if it's alright with you. I don't particularly want to be harassed."

"Yes, that should be fine."

Suddenly, Ayano seemed to lose all her patience. "Teach me already, Nate!"

"Alright, little one. Take these, and try to hit me with them. I need to see what you know naturally, and what style your body prefers before training. It's important that you let your mind grow blank for this, Ayano, so think of nothing but hitting me, alright?" I said, as I handed her two of the hunting knives I'd made.

"But they're made of wood! I want to use real knives!" Ayano said, pouting.

I sighed internally. As a kid, that was all I wanted, too. But there was no real need for them at this stage. As long as the wood ones behaved like metal ones, the composition was irrelevant. But, try explaining that to a child. I decided I could at least use her anger to motivate her.

"I'm sorry, Ayano. But you need to pass the training before you get real knives. Do you know how to pass my training?"

"How?"

"Touch me with one of those wood knives. The instant you can do that, your training will be over."

I wasn't blind to Zoe's look of utter confusion.

"What is it, Zoe?"

"Phoebe couldn't touch you, even when you had a broken leg!"

"Well, her training wasn't over, was it? Sorry, I wasn't trying to be sarcastic."

"Just teach her."

"Alright, Ayano, try to get me."

"Okay, Nate!"

She ran towards me, and instead of trying to swing once with one arm, attacking twice as quickly as with one hand, she continually tried to hit me with both hands.

It was... interesting. It wasn't difficult at all for me to dodge it, but it was clear she had a lot of skill. It occurred to me to ask who were parents were. I also wanted to find out what her situation had been before the hunt, but that could wait. Ayano herself should be the one to tell me that. But I didn't want to bother Ayano with questions while she was fighting, or trying to fight, so I asked Zoe.

"Who is her godly parent?"

"She's human."

I was shocked. So shocked in fact, that I stopped consciously defending against Ayano.

Luckily for me, I was strong enough that even unconsciously, she was no match for me. Now I was really curious. Was the blessing of the hunt really so strong as to boost a human's skills to this level? She was fighting with the ability of a minor demigod at least twice her age. She was very impressive. Very, very impressive.

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

I decided I had seen enough from Ayano. Now I would begin to teach her.

* * *

"Try to keep your stance lower. Every strike needs a purpose! Kill, hinder, it doesn't matter, but a strike with no purpose will never achieve one!"

This was the fifth time Ayano had come, and Zoe along with her. I had finally made a cup, and offered Zoe water, which she did not take, staring right at me with a look I didn't come close to understanding. Whether she accepted it or not, she was my guest, and I her host. I would observe the laws of hospitality as long as she was here.

Ayano was a much better duelist, even after only 25 hours or so of training. Skill always overcomes strength, and I'd bet that Ayano could take on a weaker 15 year old demigod or so, even at age six. She was very very gifted, but still very, very much a child. Skill does not equal maturity, and I knew it well.

"That's enough for today, Ayano. You should head back to your sisters now." She seemed upset, as a child would. I was very glad she was enjoying herself. She had become important to me, over the last few weeks.

I was surprised to find that no one from the camp harassed me whenever I had to sharpen my knife. They had even given me a bent spearhead that I'd managed to right, and I now had an acceptable melee weapon. I clearly wasn't accepted, but I was... tolerated. Apathy was the best I could hope for.

Zoe surprised me by speaking. Since the first time, she had never spoken a word.

"I have something to discuss with you, Nathan Grey. Ayano, please go back."

Ayano started walking back, but stopped, clearly hoping to eavesdrop, but neither I nor Zoe was fooled.

"Keep going," I said.

She kept going. When Zoe believed her to be at an appropriate distance, she said, "We may have discovered a way to destroy the barrier."

I was keeping my emotions guarded, for the time being. She had said 'may.'

"Really? How?"

"A ritual. There isn't even a sacrifice required. No blood, no nothing. Just magic."

"And then the catch must be that it has a low chance of working. And if it fails, I'll lose an arm and a leg."

"Something like that. Are you interested? It needs a willing participant. We can't force you to do it."

"I'll do it. When will the preparations be ready? Do you require assistance?

"Tomorrow, and no. We'll handle this ourselves. And don't tell Ayano. We'll do it early in the morning, so that she won't know. She is... very attached to you, for some reason."

"That seems shady. But I'll do it." I wasn't planning on leaving before I said goodbye, and even after I left, I still swore an oath to Artemis. I'd be back.

The next morning, I left everything but my knife at my tent, and I went to the main camp.

Surprisingly enough, Artemis herself was waiting for me.

"Nathan Grey, you look horrible," she said. It's not as though I weren't washing my clothes, but I still did have a lot of rips in my clothes.

Artemis snapped her fingers, and when I looked down, I had on the very same clothes I had had when I was first making my way to Olympus, about a month ago now.

"Um, thank you very much, my Lady. I appreciate it."

"It would not do for our plans if you were to waltz into Olympus looking like you were mauled by a bear. If this works, you will be headed there immediately."

"I am ready," I said ceremoniously.

"The let the ritual commence."

Artemis spoke many words of power, and then suddenly stopped. Nothing seemed to have happened.

"So, did it work?" I asked.

"I do not know. Go test."

And so I left. I wondered what I'd do if I could actually leave. It seemed that even if I was freed from this place, I'd still be mortal for quite some time, having gained usefulness to the gods in this state. I'd left my immortal life behind to fight in the war, and my mortal life was more here than anywhere else. Interestingly enough, I'd be sad to leave the hunt. That seemed incredibly odd. But I could dwell on that later.

When I finally made it to my tent, I started getting a little nervous. I wondered what would happen if it hadn't worked.

I started walking away. I took a step.

And a step.

And another. And another.

I was decidedly out of the area.

Was I free?

I was sure that at any second, the barrier would smash into me.

But it didn't.

Instead, my arm got slashed.

I was totally surprised. So surprised, in fact, that I didn't run back. Big mistake.

Suddenly, cuts appeared all over my body, cutting up my clothes, arms limbs, my face, even on my neck.

If I had been any slower getting out, it would have truly been "Death by 10,000 Papercuts."

I had lost a lot of blood. I needed to get back to the camp. I ran as fast as I could, before I died of blood loss.

I finally made it back to the camp, but I was close to death.

"What happened!?" shouted Artemis. Oddly caring.

"It... didn't work,"

"Damn. We'll try something else then, soon. This is much worse. You'll have to stay in the main camp until we figure something out. We can't have you dying just yet, unfortunately. Ayano would be very upset with us. And no man will tear a Huntress away from us, not if we can help it."

I passed out.

When I woke up, Ayano was right over top of me, with her knees on the bed near my head.

"You big meanie! You were going to leave without telling me!"

"Ayano, I wasn't going to leave you without saying goodbye. I was just testing to see if I could leave. I promise I wasn't going to leave without telling you."

"I don't believe you!"

"Ayano, please. Look into my eyes. I wasn't going to leave without saying goodbye to my favorite girl in the world. I swear." It was more heartfelt, swearing without involving the Styx.

"I... I believe you. I was just mad. Don't try to leave without taking me along, okay?"

"Little one, when I finally leave, I won't be able to take you with me. The Hunt is lifetime commitment. You made an oath, and you must live by it. Do you understand?"

She sighed, grumpily. "Yes."

"That's a good girl. Would you mind telling Claire I'm awake?"

"No. I'll go get her."

"Thank you, Ayano."

To my surprise, it was not Claire, but Artemis who showed up.

"My Lady? To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Drink this." She handed me a glass of nectar.

I drank it, an immediately felt better. I put the glass on the end table.

"It seems you'll be staying at the main camp, so you don't accidentally leave the barrier. This is going to cause a lot of problems. Because you swore fealty, I believe you won't hurt the Huntresses. But I need you to swear not to flirt with anyone in the Hunt. This is non-negotiable."

"I swear on the river Styx not to flirt with any member of the Huntresses." It seemed easy enough. There'd be no point getting friendly with them.

"Good. Your tent has been moved, along with your things. You'll be responsible for one deer a week. You'll eat with us from now on. When Ayano heard you be at the main camp, she absolutely refused to have you eat alone. Thank her for your meals, along with the gods."

"Of course, my Lady. As you wish."

"That is all. As soon as possible, the original curse will be restored."

I wondered what this new life would be like.

It was surprisingly dull, actually. For a time, at least.

I'd wake up, teach Ayano for a few hours, eat lunch with the Huntresses, where they completely ignored me, except for Ayano, who desperately tried to include me, but failed, and then I'd practice throwing my single knife until dinner, and then I went to sleep. I was honestly expecting to be... bullied, I guess.

The first interesting thing that happened was to do with Ayano's training.

After a lesson, a Huntress I'd never interacted with came up to me. She spoke in short sentences, and never looked directly at me. If she wasn't a huntress, and also incredibly rude, I'd say she was interested. Ha! that makes me laugh, now.

"Teach me."

"Excuse me?"

"I want to learn. Teach me."

"Er, alright, Miss."

I taught this girl in the dark, after dinner. Soon, another wanted to learn, and another, and another, and soon almost every non veteran member of the Hunt had become my student, thought Phoebe and her gang stubbornly refused to learn from me. Although, I still taught Ayano one on one every day.

We often fought rogue monsters, but I was still forced to use my single knife. Still, I had grown very accustomed to it, so I didn't really mind. A lot of the girls had warranted me using my practice knives, so I was able to continue perfecting my dual handed skill. I was confident I'd be ready to receive my longswords again. To truly use a weapon, you needed to the quality of the weapon as well as your ability to control it. If you doubted either one, and weren't a true master, it could have fatal consequences.

To my surprise, it was only after a few more weeks that they did return my swords.

Completely unceremoniously, Zoe approached me one afternoon after I'd taught.

"Here. You've earned these back. A lot of us trust you here, though we'd gladly be rid of you. It's no use crying over what can't be done. Our Lady Artemis says we cannot leave you to die, and so you remain here."

Zoe and I were on better terms than with most Huntresses. I decided that I'd enjoy being friends with her. Something about her just... I liked it. Composed and dignified, like a princess. It suited her, and I was most comfortable around that type of personality. She acted the same around me as around the other huntresses, so I assume she was comfortable around me at least. I considered her my friend, even if she didn't feel the same. She'd probably never get any friendlier. We had the occasional conversation during dinner, to Ayano's not-so-discrete delight.

Ayano became like a daughter to me, truly. Whenever Ayano was involved, it seemed the hunt was content to let her have her way, so we were often together. I praised her and scolded her, and she would often listen to me over her sisters. It was rather endearing. She had even grown incredibly strong, for a six year old. She still couldn't even touch the other huntresses, but she was still six. However, to call her one of the most skilled six-year-olds in the world when it came to dual wielding hunting knives would not be an exaggeration. Especially among mortals.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. I appreciate it. Truly, thank you."

Zoe spun around incredibly quickly and walked away without a word. I wondered if something was bothering her.

I was glad to have my swords back. Luckily, training with the Huntresses had kept my skills sharp, so I still had absolute confidence in what I could and could not do. To wield a weapon safely, you needed trust in the quality of the weapon and your ability to use it. Without either, the results could and often were fatal.

Having my swords back made me feel... complete. If I had to stay with the Hunt for my life, it... wouldn't be all that bad. To celebrate getting my swords back, I decided I'd go to sleep early, after dinner. It ended up being helpful I'd gotten sleep, because the next day, the craziest thing to happen in all my years occurred.

* * *

It started like any other day. It wasn't until lunch that something strange happened.

Zoe spoke up, addressing everyone.

"We've found away to give Nathan his original curse back."

Everyone stopped eating.

"However, the only way we can do that is if we bind it to one person in particular. Any volunteers?"

"I'll do it!" Ayano said, cheerfully.

Zoe shot her down. "No, Ayano. This is serious. As with any curse, it is extremely dangerous, and will have catastrophic repercussions if handled incorrectly. We can't go risking your safety.

"She's right, Ayano. Listen to the Lieutenant, alright?"

"Alriiiiiight," she moped.

Still, I was shocked. There was a way to do this? Modern magic was getting really amazing. So, was I to be tied to one of the Huntresses in particular, now? I wondered what was the ideal situation here. Would it be someone I didn't like, or someone I did? If it worked, I'd probably have to leave the main camp once again. I'd almost never see that person.

"Well, if no one will volunteer, it is the duty of the Lieutenant to carry out the will of our Lady. I will do it. After lunch, boy, come with me."

For some reason, I cared more that she had gone back to calling me boy, than the fact I'd have to go through another ritual. We were on a... well, not a first name basis, but on a name basis.I called her Nightshade, and she called me Grey. I was... disappointed, that I'd probably never see Zoe again. I really did think of us as friends. Maybe not close friends, but slightly more than acquaintances.

None of us really started talking again during lunch. Afterwards, I followed Zoe to where Artemis was waiting for me.

"Alright, we'll begin now," Artemis said. For some reason, nothing felt ceremonious with her. It was an odd trait for a goddess.

She continued. "Nathan Grey, take my Lieutenant's hands."

"What!?" I couldn't keep from shouting.

"She doesn't have cooties, Nathan Grey. This is a ritual, not a middle school dance."

Yeah, completely unceremonious with Artemis.

As I took Zoe's hands in my own, I couldn't help but notice the small blush on Zoe's face, which neither of us acknowledged. In fact, a small blush rose to my face, as well. I hadn't had any contact with a woman outside of a fight in over half a year, save Ayano. But then again, she wasn't a woman, yet. Still just a small child. It felt odd, but not totally unpleasant. It was a strange ritual.

"Alright, now look her in the eyes."

"Are you kidding me!?"

"Please, just do it."

It was a _very_ strange ritual.

Artemis spoke ancient words of power for a long time, and I didn't really pay attention. I was sort of busy looking at Zoe.

Our blushes slowly started rising, until it was nearly unbearable. It felt like my face was on fire, and Zoe didn't look much better. Her volcanic black eyes felt like they were staring straight into my soul.

It had been an agonizing ten minutes when Artemis said it was done.

Zoe and I could not have separated faster if our lives had depended on it. We both started squatting away from each other, trying to catch our breaths. It was almost comical.

"Alright, now Zoe, you stay put, while I investigate with Nathan Grey. Let's see if it's worked, and if it has, how it works. Oh, and Nathan Grey, grab some ambrosia from the infirmary tent first. I'm sure you know where it is by now." Nathan Grey this, Nathan Grey that. It was getting a little annoying. Pick something shorter Artemis, please. You're ruining the author's sentence fluency. Come on now, don't you have any consideration for the person writing the story?

Artemis and I had walked nearly a mile when Ayano came up to Zoe, I learned after the fact. Zoe had picked Ayano up, and twirled her around.

"So is Nate leaving?" Ayano said, sadly.

"No, but he is leaving the main camp. But I'm sure he'll come here to train you every day, don't worry, little one," Zoe consoled.

"Waah, don't call me that, too. That's what Nate calls me. Only he's allowed."

"Aww, I'm not? How about 'young one?' Is that any better?"

"Come on, you know he calls me that too."

* * *

At my end, Artemis and I had been just about a mile now.

"Well, I think it's around here," I said, and continued walking.

And I kept walking. And walking.

Eventually, I thought I must have been freed, and turned around.

Only to find no one there. Artemis was gone. I started running furiously. At this speed, it was only a matter of a few minutes when I found Zoe. And Ayano, sitting piggyback on Zoe. And... no camp. No Artemis, no camp. What was going on?

"Lieutenant? Ayano? Is the camp around here somewhere?" I asked, somewhat fearfully, and somewhat hopefully.

"I don't think so, Grey," she said, cautiously.

"Nate! I got really scared! There was a flash of light, and suddenly the camp was gone!" Ayano blabbered.

"Nightshade, do you think... do you think something went wrong with the ritual?" Now was not the time to blush.

"It must have, right? At any rate, we have to figure out where we are."

"Yeah. This is... frightening,don't you think? Artemis was following me, and then suddenly, when I turned around, she wasn't there anymore. If the camp went missing, too... I'm worried about everyone. Though I'm glad you and Ayano are both alright."

"Nate? I'm scared!"

"It'll be okay, little one," I said, putting my hand on her head. "It'll all be okay."

* * *

 **And there you have it. I probably should have written a few more k words and then madetwo separate chapters, but... Nah. Even though my stats would go up... This just felt better, in all honesty. Maybe more people will read if they see my words per chapter ratio so high. Or maybe only I worry about that sort of thing when starting to read a new story.**

 **Anyways, how do you like the new developments so far? Anyone want to hazard a guess as to where they are? Anyone who guesses gets a virtual cookie!**

 **But in all seriousness, please tell me how you think I'm doing with a review. I'd appreciate feedback. Or you could PM me if you have something extensive to say, or something inappropriate. Flames are accepted as well. I've got no problems with them. I think even I'd flame my work from when I was sixteen. Except Have Another Round On Me. That's actually pretty good. Too bad I haven't updated in forever. But it's really hard to think up stories that only take up 108 words. Maybe one day I'll have all 108 chapters up. It'll probably be the day I die.**


	4. Isn't This a Bit Off?

**Heeeeeeeeeere's "Fort Capter," as I've called the document. I messed up the title of the first document, and it became kind of a thing. I just think it's kind of funny. Anyways, sorry it's so late, I'll explain more at the bottom. And even in the story, actually, because I enjoy breaking the fourth wall.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

* * *

Ayano looked up at me. She seemed less scared than you'd think. She had said she was scared, and she was, but... something in her eyes told me that she was more excited than terrified. I decided I'd think more about that later.

"Nightshade, we need to see if we can find any traces of the Hunt. Do you agree?" I asked.

"Of course, Grey. hall we split up?" she replied.

"While it would be faster... I think it's best we all stick together. If we knew that we had merely lost the hunt, it would be different, but something different might have happened. If we keep together, we have a better chance of protecting Ayano if something crazy happens. I apologize for suggesting you travel with a male."

"Think nothing of it, Grey. You are right. Protecting her should be our primary focus. If I ignored my young sister for such a petty reason, I'd not be a true Huntress."

It seemed Ayano was a little peeved that she wasn't getting to talk, but she seemed to know that this could be a life or death situation.

"I've already been to the North, so let's try the South. Let's go." I said.

Wordlessly, all three of us took off, and Ayano did indeed hold onto Zoe's back as they ran. Zoe was somewhat slower than I, so I suggested I hold Ayano, which Ayano found very much agreeable.

"Yaaay!" she shouted.

"Hush, little one," I lightly scolded her. "We don't know for certain what lurks in these woods. We shouldn't make too much noise."

She pouted, but seemed to agree.

After a while of seeing nothing but the woods, we tried heading Northwest, and, finding nothing, tried heading East.

Still nothing.

I said to Zoe, "What do you think we should do, Nightshade?"

Zoe seemed concerned. "Truthfully, I think we should head to Olympus. If our Lady is truly missing, the council must be notified. Staying here will accomplish nothing."

"I agree. Ayano? Do you think that's a good idea?" I was indulging Ayano, but it was still good to know if this was what she wanted to do. Better to ask than not, at any rate.

"Sure!" she said, excitedly.

"Then let's be off," suggested Zoe.

We started making our way East, sprinting through the trees.

* * *

Some time later, we ran into... trouble? Not exactly. But it was the first evidence that something incredible had happened.

We found what we thought was the Huntresses' camp. Same layout, same silver tents, same everything.

"We found it!" shouted Ayano.

But Zoe and I shared a troubled look.

I said, so softly it was almost a whisper, "Zoe... where's the Hunt?"

I didn't exactly mean that, though, because I knew exactly where they were. They were perched in the trees, arrows aimed on us. It was as if they thought we were outsiders.

Zoe seemed to know what I meant. "Put down your weapons,, Nathan," she said in a tone that matched mine. "If we surrender, they shouldn't harm us. They wouldn't strike me down instantly, and as long as Ayano is on your back, they won't touch you either."

If this wasn't such a serious situation, I probably would've realized we'd both just referred to each other by our first names.

"What's going on?" asked Ayano. "Where is everybody?"

"Don't say anything, little one," I said softly. "This isn't the Hunt. This isn't our Hunt. Your sister and I will handle this."

She didn't make a sound.

I slowly removed the scabbards from my belt and laid them on the ground. Zoe did the same with the bow slung across her back. I dropped my knife.

Zoe spoke up, clearly but cautiously, "Excuse us. We're now unarmed, and wish this place no harm."

A girl's voice from the trees shouted back, "Who are you? And why have you come to the Hunters' camp? How did you find this place?"

Zoe and I shared another look.

Hunters? Members of the Hunt almost always identified themselves as Huntresses, not Hunters. The use of the feminine form of the word was rather important, wasn't it?

"I am Zoe Nightshade, and this is Ayano Suzumaki, as well as Nathan Grey." Zoe called out.

Instantly there was furious muttering. I could hear Zoe's name being thrown around a lot. They seemed shocked by her, somehow.

Suddenly a girl, about 12 years old and absolutely overflowing with energy, came into view. Her power felt familiar, and was so overwhelming it was obvious she was a major goddess.

Zoe spoke. "My Lady? Why are you in such a juvenile form?"

It was Artemis? Why was she so young? She commonly took an 18 year old form, the age most Huntresses chose to remain immortal at. And why was she here? Where had she gone?

But Artemis didn't look like she'd even heard Zoe. She kept walking forwards. "Zoe? Is that.. really you?"

"My Lady? What happened? Where did you go?"

Artemis was clearly crying. "Zoe? Are you really here?"

"Yes, my Lady, I'm right here. Will you please tell us what is going on?" Zoe looked totally confused now.

When Zoe said 'us' Artemis seemed to see me for the first times, and her glowing eyes darkened.

"What are you doing in the presence of a male?"

"Don't you remember? This is Nathan Grey, the man who got trapped in the... What is going on, Artemis?" Zoe realized Artemis had no idea who I was.

"You died, Zoe. You died years ago. I sent you to the stars."

Zoe was thoroughly shocked, as was I.

"I died!? What do you mean, 'I died'!?" I wanted to know the same thing.

"At the end of the quest to save me. Atlas, and Ladon, and Percy Jackson..." Artemis trailed off.

So-called 'Hunters' started slowly coming out of the trees to get a better look.

"What are you talking about? What quest?"

"The Ophiotaurus, I was hunting it, and was captured, and you led a quest to rescue me, and... you died."

"No, I didn't, my Lady. You killed the Ophiotaurus with no problem. There was no such quest. And who is Percy Jackson?"

This seemed to pull Artemis out of whatever funk she was in. She gave Zoe a concerned look.

"Come to my tent. We must sort this out, immediately. Who is this boy?"

Zoe hesitated for a few moments, and then said, "Someone who should also hear what you have to say."

I debated whether or not that meant anything very briefly, before I nodded appreciatively at Zoe, who curtly nodded back. Ayano seemed just as confused by everything as us, and said nothing. That, or she had fallen asleep at some point unbeknownst to me.

Artemis considered something for a moment, but relented, saying, "Follow me, all of you. We have much to discuss."

I had my suspicions as to what had happened, as I'm sure both Zoe and this strange Artemis did. I'd like to see if they held water.

we headed to Artemis's tent, which was in the same place as it was before, in the Huntress' camp. It was clear this was not the same place. This was the Hunters' camp.

Once we were inside, child Artemis waved her hand and summoned three chairs. This was a power I envied, at least at one point. Does that sound odd?

See, while I had been immortal, I was only a glorified nature sprite, the embodiment of gusts of wind that bowl over groups of men. I wasn't a god. And, as we all know, even the weakest of gods can summon chairs. So for me to summon a chair, I would first have to become a god. I had wanted that for the longest time. But, when the second Titanomachy broke out, I traded in my immortality for a chance to fight, though I did, of course, keep much increased youth, remaining at the physical age of 18 for years on end, though I could be killed in combat. As the years and years went by, my desire to become a god faded. The point is, even to this day, the power to summon chairs was something I wanted, even though the desire to truly become a god had waned.

It was Artemis spoke who spoke first. "If you do not remember, then I will begin from the beginning. Listen closely."

She told us all about the third book in the PJO series. Is the author getting lazy? Absolutely. This chapter is way late, and it's all recap anyways. Give the guy a damn break, it's finals week.

Neither of us remembered any of that happening the way it did. I knew a lot about the history of the second Titan war, having lived it. I had a particular attachment to some of these events in particular, actually, though I decided not to say anything until the goddess had finished.

Zoe said, "I don't remember any of that happening the way it did. Do you remember any of that, Grey?"

I decided I'd speak up. "Well, as a matter of fact... in the very beginning, the story opened with the Percy fellow heading to rescue the children of Hades, yes?"

Artemis said, "Yes. And?" She seemed to dislike me quite a bit.

"Well, I'm not sure how exactly this is, but, as it happens, I was the one sent to retrieve the demigods you mentioned. It was a routine recruitment mission. It only took a week or so, I recall. I took out the four Manticore guarding them with not much trouble. They had remarkably weak scents for as powerful as they both turned out to be, though they were both killed in the Battle of Jersey."

Artemis was stunned.

"Oh yes, I remember them now," Zoe exclaimed. "They fought well there, didn't they?"

"Yeah. If I didn't have incredible luck, I'd never have made it out of that fight alive. I watched them fall. They were protecting mortals, if I recall correctly. It was years and years ago, after all. They were both true heroes."

Artemis looked more and more lost.

"Zoe, do you know exactly what happened with the Ophiotaurus in our world?" I accidentally let slip my theory.

"Our world?" she asked.

"Sorry, it just seems the most likely solution. Two different histories, the Hunt not remembering us? I figure the ritual must have failed. I wonder if I can leave you? Um, wait, I... that came out wrong. I was just wondering what would happen if I tried to-"

"Shut up," Zoe said calmly. "I agree, that seems likely."

I wasn't sure why I got so flustered just then. It couldn't be good.

Now, you may be thinking, 'This isn't realistic. Real people would be way more freaked out by traveling to an alternate universe. This is stupid.' But the thing is, you are not immortal. You have not lived thousands of years. You have not been subject to numerous crazy happenings. This was certainly crazy, but... It could be much crazier. We were both happy just to be safe. Well, I was. I assume she was, too. And Ayano... I'm not sure she really grasped the concept.

Zoe spoke again. "Our Artemis sensed the Ophiotaurus returning, and killed it without any trouble at all, really. Two of the other elder sisters accompanied her, while I took charge of the hunt. It took a week or so."

Artemis seemed like she was going to fall out of her chair.

"Elder... sisters?"

"Yeah. The four eldest members of the Hunt. Our Artemis heads the council they're on, and they make up the driving leadership of the Hunt."

"Hold on you two. Just... tell me one thing. Just how long did the Titan War last?"

I spoke up. "Fifty years. Why?"

"Ours... only lasted five, at most."

"Only five years!?" I exclaimed. Zoe looked somewhat shocked, as well.

"Yes. And how long did your Giant War last?"

At first, we didn't understand what she meant.

Zoe said, "What giant war, my Lady? What do you mean?"

"The Second Gigantomachy. How long did it take?"

We both paled. Even Ayano, whose eyes had glazed over for the most part, seemed distraught.

"That..." I trailed off.

"Hasn't happened yet." Zoe finished.

Artemis looked down. She was clearly saddened. But then she picked her head back up.

"Have you gotten the next Great prophecy yet?" she asked, hope shining clear in her tone.

Zoe said, "No. We haven't. I suppose that's good, right, Grey?"

But I wasn't listening. There was someone outside the tent.

"Grey." Zoe sounded very upset. Very very upset. I wasn't sure why, exactly.

"Z-Nightshade, there's someone right outside the tent."

Just then, Artemis said, "Come in here, Percy."

Zoe and I shared a look, her anger forgotten, momentarily. The Percy who was supposedly this world's Zoe's only male friend before she died? For some reason, I tensed up. I didn't want him near the Lieutenant.

It was at this point that my heart knew. My heart knew exactly what it wanted. Unfortunately, or perhaps very fortunately, my brain still had no idea.

Percy opened the tent flap, and stepped inside. He was incredibly handsome, with jet black hair and glowing green eyes, with... was that... black around the inside? And were those... orange fleks in the middle? What on Earth? His eyes looked absolutely crazy, and were probably the only flaw his face had. They were just too ridiculous to be attractive. He was overflowing with power, nearly as much as this world's Artemis, who I had recently determined possessed marginally less power than our world's Artemis. Still, this meant that this Perseus fellow was almost level with one of the more combat oriented Olympian gods of this world. He was freakishly strong for a demigod, and he seemed about 18. I could smell a lot about him, since his power was flowing into the air around us. I was still slightly connected with wind, though I didn't have any combat abilities. He smelled mainly of the sea, but there was also an aura of mysteriousness, as well as a sort of comfortable odor.

Unfortunately, his smell was so overpowering that as soon as he stepped in the room and it mixed with the smell of Artemis's power, I started gagging from all the strange scents, which was probably rude.

"Hey, Arty."

What.

Excuse me.

My head whipped over to Artemis, who, of all things, was blushing lightly. Gods, though they have gold ichor, still blushed red, for some reason. It was a strange, strange thing. I'd only seen it once, when I met Aphrodite over a thousand years ago, which is an incredibly long story in and of itself. Also, interestingly, Artemis seemed to have changed into the 18 year old form I was used to seeing at some point.

But I had just witnessed two things. A male had just referred to the almighty goddess Artemis by a nickname for people named Arthur, and not only was he not dead, but the goddess blushed. It was completely unfathomable. Incomprehensible. Totally bizarre.

I looked at Zoe, who was as completely dumbfounded as I was.

Neither of us could even attempt to speak.

But Artemis continued like nothing had happened.

"Hello, Percy. You've come at an interesting time. You remember my lieutenant, Zoe, right?"

"Of course, how could I ever forget?"

This wasn't possible. Did they think we didn't notice? Because it was brutally obvious. He called her Arty, and she blushed. That didn't happen because they were friends. Both of them were attracted to one another and neither made an attempt to hide it. It... it made no sense. She was the maiden goddess. The maiden goddess, for crying out loud!

"Well, this may be hard to believe. But, we believe that these three people came from a different world. A..."

"An alternate universe?"

"Yeah, that's it, thanks!"

"No problem."

She blushed.

This was sickening. Not only was the goddess of virgins clearly in love with Percy, but Percy was clearly in love with the goddess of virgins. And they were acting like middle schoolers about it! Blushing for no reason, not acknowledging it immediately... it was... it just made no sense. They certainly were from an alternate universe. If our Artemis acted like this... I shudder to think what the hunt would be like. It was just... so out of character. It was like she lost all maturity around this guy. It made no damn sense.

I looked to Zoe, and her face seemed to indicate she was thinking along the same lines.

Suddenly, before I could stop her, Ayano blurted out, "So they like each other, right?"

Uh oh. We were dead for sure. Even if she was acting like a childish lovesick girl, she was still an incredibly powerful goddess, and she wouldn't like this one bit.

Or not. Instead of blasting us into oblivion, she turned beet red, right along with Percy, even though he had perfectly tanned skin.

"It-it's not like that!" she said coyly.

"Ye-yeah," affirmed Percy.

"Oh. Okay," said Ayano.

Un-fucking-believable. Pardon my French.

This was just getting too ridiculous. I wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. Unless this crap calmed down, I was gonna run.

Suddenly, Zoe put her arm out and grabbed my shoulder, as if to say, "Stay strong, Grey."

And so I stayed.

I sat through their weird lovesick routine for at least another hour, telling Percy about our world, with help from Zoe, and occasionally , and him telling us about his. I decided he wasn't really a bad guy, he just fell for the wrong girl. He seemed guarded though, when he wasn't a lovesick little boy. It made him interesting, at least a little.

Thankfully, before too long, it had gotten late.

Zoe asked, somewhat dazed after everything we'd gotten used to, "Do you have any spare tents?"

Artemis replied, "Just one."

I instantly said, "Perfect!" which garnered strange looks across the board. But I continued, "Nightshade and Ayano will be able to sleep in a tent. Don't worry about me, if you were. I can easily make a shelter."

It was Percy who spoke. "Oh, you don't need to do that, man. You can bunk with me! It'll be sweet. I've got an extra bed in my tent."

"Ahh, well, thank you very much, Percy. I appreciate that. I think I'll take you up on that."

Just for a minute, I wondered what it would be like to sleep on a real bed again. Even when I had stayed as a guest at the main camp, I still had to sleep on the ground, without so much as a sleeping bag. It had been months and months since I'd slept in a real bed, and it had been over fifty years since I'd slept in a comfortable one.

Just then, Ayano spoke up. "Aww, so I can't sleep with Nate?"

I reddened.

Zoe scolded her for me. "No, Ayano. But you get to sleep in my tent. Isn't that better?"

Ayano was having none of it. "Nooooo. I wanna sleep in Nate's tent!"

I decided I needed to step in. "Ayano, what brought this on? Your sister cares about you a lot, and I'll have to leave you guys, soon enough. It's not right for a Huntress to sleep in a man's tent anyways."

"But you're Nate! It should be okay!" she protested.

"Little one, please don't argue. Just sleep with your sister, alright? Please?" I desperately pleaded.

"Fiiiine."

"Thank you, Ayano."

Artemis was the next to speak. "Zoe, and Ayano, too, won't you have dinner with us?"

Everyone but Ayano understood what she meant. Percy looked like he might argue but decided against it. Ayano didn't realize I wasn't invitied.

Zoe had a solemn acceptance in her eyes. She could not argue for my sake and save face at the same time, and this was Artemis, even if she was a strange, lovesick one. Besides, why would she really even want to eat with me? She only teamed up with me to protect Ayano. I understood when I wasn't wanted. And I was used to it. I lived within a mile of the hunt for a long time now. I knew what had to be done. I could still save face. I wasn't a pathetic boy. My chest hurt, but I didn't know why.

"I'll go catch something for myself, if I can get my weapons back." I said, with an utmost effort to remain respectful. I didn't know why it was so hard all of a sudden. Were emotions harder to keep in check in this world or something?

Emotions?

"I'm sure my Hunters will have left them where you dropped them. If you survive this tent, there's no need to keep your weapons hostage." Artemis told me.

I got up and left the tent wordlessly, and I found my weapons right where I left them.

I thought that was foolish. I'd sworn no oaths. None of us had. All she had was our word. My Huntresses would never have left my weapons lying on the ground. I wouldn't be able to get them back for a month. Actually, it had been more than a month.

My Huntresses?

I caught enough food to fill me up after the exhausting day I had, made a small fire, and put it out when I was done. I started making a shelter before I remembered Percy had offered to let me stay in his tent. I didn't want to anymore.

Gods dammit, why was I acting like a little kid? Had Artemis's childishness rubbed off on me? Why was I acting so upset? It was completely irrational. I had to find water, not least to fill my canteen, but to splash my face. I needed to get my senses back, and quick.

I eventually located a stream, and when I splashed my face, I truly did feel a little better. What was there to be sad about? I'd see Zoe tomorrow.

I'd see Zoe tomorrow? Why was that-

"Grey...Nathan. I need to talk to you. Ayano is with the Hunters, she'll be fine for a long while, so don't worry about her."

It was Zoe, calling me by my first name.

I felt better. A lot better. I still thought that all this emotion was due to this strange world. What a fool I was.

"N-Zoe? What is it?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"We may still be being watched. Come with me. I know how fast you can move. Only keep up with me, alright?"

"Of course. After you."

Zoe shot off, and I after her. We traveled at speeds that shouldn't even be possible for humans. But then, neither of us were human, were we? The speed was exhilarating, and I felt better without even talking to her, though my interest in what was this important was mounting. Finally, we came to a stop.

"So, Lieutenant, what is this important?" I said softly.

"We need to plan how to get out of here. This place... it's not where any of us belong."

I ignored the slight sinking of my heart, because this was vital. No time for silly games.

"I agree. This Artemis..."

Zoe spat on the ground.

"She doesn't deserve the name," she said vehemently.

I had no idea she felt so strongly.

Zoe continued, "You were in the tent, but you have no idea how horrible it was at dinner. She was... she didn't act like Artemis, you know?"

"That's how it seemed to me. Though, I don't know what Artemis would be like if she were in love," I added.

"Well, I do. You know the story of Orion? Well, despite whatever version your friends told you, I'd bet the truth was different. It was as close to love as Artemis will ever come. She admired him as much as anyone could. He was a grand huntsman, and not at all a bad person, no one in the Hunt thought he was. He and you were very similar,, actually, in that regard. He didn't make advances on Artemis, nor any woman. They were happy together. His skill and hers were equal. When Apollo tricked her into shooting him, she felt so horrible that she left me in charge of the Hunt for years, after putting Orion in the stars. Even Apollo was stricken with grief when he saw what he had done. When she came back, she never mentioned him again. She harbored the truest kind of love for him. She is a virgin goddess, and surely would still have remained such, even if Orion were still alive today. That's the kind of bond they shared."

"That's... I'm not sure what to say. That's beautiful, really. I hope one day, I'll share a bond like that, with someone."

Zoe ignored what I said, which I was thankful for, as it was somewhat embarrassing. "But this world's Artemis... I don't think her Orion was like that at all. Look up at the sky. Do you see Orion?"

I nodded.

"Look at Orion's back. What do you see?"

I looked very closely. Finally, I saw it.

"Is that... It looks kind of like it's a..."

"Scorpion. It's chasing Orion across the stars for eternity. It's called Scorpio."

"So, what does that mean?"

"It means that this Artemis, or at least some god, hates Orion. He wasn't a good person in this world. Artemis never felt a real love. It could explain her infatuation with this... Percy character."

"That might be. Why do you say Percy with such a bitter taste in your mouth, Zoe?"

"For one, he is a man. Slightly better than most, but still an ordinary man, you'll see. He seemed different in the story Artemis told us about. He... you'll see. You're coming to dinner tomorrow, and I won't take no for an answer. This Artemis and these children called Hunters, they... act so strangely around Percy. I need someone I can hold an intelligent conversation with. Ayano is still a child after all. Anyways, you'll see what I mean at dinner tomorrow. Sleep in Percy's tent tonight, and see what you can get out of him. He's holding back a lot about himself. He's said he's a son of Poseidon, but there has to be more. He's too strong."

"Oh, yeah. Two somethings else. If I had to guess, I'd say he has the blessing of Hestia, and perhaps Hades? Some dark god."

"You're right about Hestia, but I want your reaction about that to be natural at dinner. I'm also testing you, you know. What you think of his behavior could speak volumes about yourself, and I really want to be proven right about you. The dark god thing... that would explain the overwhelming power... And I want you to fight him." Something about how she blew off my being right about Hestia seemed incredibly convenient, as if the author needed something very specific to happen but really didn't want to delete this whole scene, so Zoe said something that made no sense.

I almost shouted, forgetting our hushed tones, but I remembered at the last second, only whisper shouting, "You want me to fight him!? Are you crazy!? He's the most powerful demigod I've ever seen!"

"You big baby. I know you don't stand a chance in a fight to the death, since you don't have any powers. I mean a duel. Your specialty, remember? Even I'd stand no chance against you in close quarters combat, any fool could see that. Of course, in a fight to the death... I think were equal. Anyways, I just... I want you to beat him in a sword fight."

"Alright, Zoe. If you want me to, I'll do it. I don't know exactly why, but... alright."

"Just think about this. Why is he here in the first place?"

That was a good question.

This all seemed very convenient, almost like the author was too lazy to think of an actual reason Percy and I might fight. But this is a parody, and not a legitimate story. All that needs to happen is for Percy and I to fight, okay? In fact, a lot of this seems really convenient, and why wasn't Artemis sad when she found out Zoe wasn't alive again? Her character seems all out of whack? Could that be because the author is trying to show how out of character the typical Pertemis is for both Percy _and_ Artemis? Who knows? Maybe this is just a lighthearted, half-assed puddle of ideas written in the dead of night?

Zoe looked at me for a second, and then another, like she was trying to decide something or other, before saying, "Thank you, Nathan. We should talk again tomorrow. We still have to discuss how to get out of here. Make sure you come to dinner."

With that, she ran back to the camp, and I decided I'd go find Percy's tent and go to sleep. Luckily, Percy was heading to bed as well, so I just followed him.

"Hey man, what were you up to for so long?" he asked.

"Oh, well, I was looking at the stars for a bit. I wanted to see if they were the same as in my world." I wasn't exactly lying, but I wasn't really answering his question, either.

"Well, are they?"

"There are a few more constellations in this world. I heard this world's Zoe was turned into a constellation." This wasn't really a lie, either. I didn't have the heart to tell the guy about Orion.

"Yeah..." He seemed kind of distant. I suppose Zoe had meant something to him, like Artemis had said.

"Well, I'm beat. Let's hit the sack."

"Good idea."

We headed to his tent. I only took my shoes off before lying on the bed. The comfortable bed. I drifted off into the calmest sleep I'd had in over fifty years.

* * *

 **I'd like to say that I have nothing against the Pertemis pairing. I enjoy it. It's possible to do totally right, even if Artemis doesn't remain a virgin. The point of this chapter was mainly two things: How ridiculous super vibrant multi colored eyes are, and how silly it is for Artemis to ever be lovesick. If she acts like a teenager in love in any story, then she is out of character, because Artemis would never ever act like a teenager in love. If she falls in love with Percy in a mature way, sort of like Nathan's Universe Orion, but not necessarily, then she can stay mature, and still love Percy.**

 **But seriously, once your eyes are fifteen different colors, they will not look cool. _Maybe_ two different colors is okay, but I'm pretty sure there's no precedence for eyes changing color during someone's life because of a blessing they receive.**

 **Another purpose for this chapter was setting up a lot of points I want to hit, and the relationship between Nathan and Zoe(duh. I kind of you over the head a little hard with that.) If I was more patient with it, then it would seem a lot more natural, which I'd prefer, but I really just don't have the time right now. If I took it any slower it'd never get done. If the story goes slower, I have to think about it more, and it will take that much longer to write. I feally want tom pump this whole story out before I get bored with it, so I'm sacrificing quality for completedness, if that makes sense.  
**

 **Remember, if you want to tell me how I'm doing, please review or PM. If you say something meaningful in your review, I'll probably reply to you, so keep that in mind if you've got something you want to tell me. If you don't understand something, ask, if something annoys you, tell me, and I'll do my best to explain.**

 **Peace out.**


	5. Tony

**A/N WARNING: The beginning of this chapter involves implied rape. If you can't stomach it, head to the next bold words you see. There will be a summary of what important plot points you missed.**

I had a dream that night. I thought then it must have been an event from the past of this world.

I saw Herakles, easily identifiable by his lion pelt, approach a girl in the garden of the Hesperides, but I was too far away to see who she was. I tried to get closer, but I was moving slowly. I didn't know Herakles had been helped, even on this labor. He needed help for three of his labors. Stupid fool. He never was smart enough to trick Atlas. I should have known it was someone else. I saw the girl take something out of her hair, and finally I was close enough to hear some of what was being was being said.

"-the ocean's power is within it. _My_ immortal power," the girl said.

I gasped. She had given up immortality for Herakles? And no one had ever heard of her? I was very angry. So angry that I didn't hear most of the conversation, but I kept slowly getting closer, until finally I saw.

The girl was Zoe. A little younger than she looked now, but definitely Zoe. And if the girl was Zoe, then how did she end up with the Hunt?

My blood boiled. It was obvious that Herakles would use her and then abandon her. I didn't want to see more. I had heard tell of Herakles'... ways with women. If this Herakles was anything like the Herakles I knew... He'd coerce her, and if she didn't want it, he'd take what he wanted from her by force, and leave her for dead, like she was nothing. I wanted to scream to her to run away, but it was too late.

Time seemed to hiccup forward, and Herakles walked away with apple in hand. Zoe followed behind him, and only I could see the malicious grin on his face. I didn't want to see anymore of this. I knew what would happen.

Time lurched forward again, and I wanted to vomit. I was right about what he was going to do. He was leaving her alone in the forest, her silk gown ripped to shreds, and a broken look in her eyes. And Herakles didn't even care. He left with her sword, her immortality, and something else she could never get back. I decided I'd rip Herakles to shreds if I ever saw him again. He would feel the pain of those he broke. Those he used. Those he... He was a god, so he could take a lot of punishment before he stopped feeling the pain, and I would make him capitalize on that. He would suffer.

Some men don't deserve to walk the Earth. Anyone who commits such an act deserves death.

I wished I could comfort Zoe. She couldn't even sob. She sat by a tree for hours, unmoving, broken, tears streaming down her face. It was horrific.

 **A/N: Nathan dreamed of Herakles' meeting with Zoe, she gives Herakles her sword, containing her immortal power, after which it is implied Herakles rapes her and leaves her for dead; Nathan is absolutely furious. Nathan is still dreaming.**

Time leapt forward hundreds of years. I witnessed an event that to my knowledge had not taken place in my world. A fight was taking place at the Titan's fortress, and Atlas was not where he should have been. He was fighting several demigods, including a young Zoe, the same age as the first part of my dream, and what seemed like a young Percy. I saw Atlas strike Zoe, and I saw Percy take the weight of the sky, and Artemis trick Atlas back under his usual burden. But Zoe was dying.

I saw Zoe hand Anaklusmos back to Percy when he handed it to her, and I heard her final words. I watched as Zoe's body shimmered and disappeared, and I watched as she took her place among the stars.

The scene faded into black, and I fell back into dreamless sleep once again, this time restless, and agitated.

* * *

I awoke in an empty tent, furious at Herakles, and with all scumbag men, but it wouldn't do well to dwell on that for right now, so I pushed it out of my mind.

I doubted the Hunters would be willing to share their breakfast with me, and I was famished. Traveling to another world takes a lot out of you. I decided I'd have to catch my own breakfast, so I took my knife with me, and left the tent.

I was surprised Percy was up; no one was in the camp, and it seemed quite early. The sun hadn't risen yet.

At any rate, the fact there were no Hunters meant I could easily slip away from the camp to hunt.

As I crept through the forest, careful to stay within a mile of camp, seeing as we didn't know what would happen if I crossed the border, I came upon a raccoon, medium sized, and raised my knife; a delicious and easy kill.

Or, it would have been, if the second weirdest thing in the last 24 hours hadn't happened.

One second, the raccoon was facing away from me and paying me no mind, and the next he was looking at me straight in the eyes, standing on his hind legs. He dropped the nut he had in his hands and put his paws straight up in the air. He looked scared as all Hades.

"I surrender, Elephant Ears! Don't shoot!" the terrified coon shouted in a high pitched, sort of chittering voice. The raccoon was clearly scared for his life, but I just found it adorable. Call me a softie, but I couldn't handle cute. This little fella was safe.

Of course, he didn't know that, and I was fascinated. I'd never met a raccoon who could talk before, and I wanted to know more. The little guy had called me Elephant Ears, which used to be slang for a cop. But that was in the 1920s. How'd he know what it meant? I decided to indulge him in this game of charades, in the hopes I'd be able to find out more about him.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fill ya full of lead, huh?" I spoke with a vaguely New York accent, I hoped. Luckily, he bought it.

"Look, I knows the bulls is after me for stealin' from that pack o' dames back there, but I had to, ya gotta believe me, dick!" he kept chattering away. Bulls meant the police, dames meant women, and dick meant a detective. And, Zeus above, what an accent he had!

"Tell it to Sweeney!" I shouted back, which meant to tell someone who'd buy it.

"I swears, sir! It's nothin' but the truth!" Goodness gracious.

"Why don't you tell me everything you know, ya crook." I was getting a little into this.

"There's an egg-" overly wealthy man "-who's threatnin' ta take me for a ride-" kill him after driving him somewhere indiscreet "-if I don't pull off enough capers-" robberies "-for him! I swears it!" The raccoon vigorously nodded his head up and down.

"Why don't you take me to this guy then, huh?"

"He's just around the bend! Follow me!" The raccoon scampered off, and I followed right behind him. He was quick, but at a full sprint, I could beat him.

Strangely enough, my little raccoon friend really did take me to another raccoon, and a fat one at that. I couldn't imagine him moving any faster than I could walk normally. I suppose money to a raccoon is just food, so it'd make sense he was fat. Funnily, he did somewhat resemble an egg.

My raccoon started talking to him, and I stayed hidden behind a nearby tree.

"Hey, boss, I, uh, I'm ready for a new heist, ha ha," he said, clearly nervous.

But the other raccoon didn't talk at all; he made chattering sounds, like an actual raccoon. So I hadn't gained the ability to converse with animals just yet, that was good to know.

"Uh huh."

More chattering.

"Right."

Chattering.

"I'm on my way!."

I couldn't believe it. Was the rascally raccoon really being forced to steal food for the other?

Well, I wouldn't stand for mistreatment of anyone. I spun around from behind the tree, and raised my knife, aiming towards Fat Coon.

"Freeze! By order of the... forest police department you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit robbery, and other offenses!" I shouted.

Rascal Coon scattered, but Fat Coon picked up acorns and started throwing them at me.

"Put down your weapon, or we will have no choice but to use deadly force!"

Fat Coon wasn't having it. With a loud screech, he abandoned the acorns and started running towards me with surprising speed. At this point, it wasn't a game any longer. I felt really bad, but I had to kill Fat Coon.

He never touched me.

I dug up a small grave for the poor guy, and covered him up with dirt. I prayed his tiny animal soul would live on in Hades. I'd killed men before. Many, in fact. I'd lived for thousands of years, and fought in many wars. This animal seemed to have at least as much intelligence as some of them. Probably smarter than your average tax collector. It was a bloody waste. I would have eaten him, but.. it just didn't seem right. Almost like eating a person.

The Rascal Coon looked out from behind a tree, standing upright with no difficulty.

"I ain't never seen the fuzz care so much about a dead crook in my life," he said, sadly.

I just looked at him.

"You know, we was human, once." It made sense.

"You were gangsters, from the nineteen twenties, weren't you?" I asked.

"We were. We were. We wasn't no more, but... we were."

"What if you could go back to being human?"

"But I ain't human no more. I'm all raccoon, Elephant Ears."

"You know, I'm not a police officer."

"I know. You don't look like no copper I ever saw. I just... I wanted to run from the law, one last time. So did Eddie. We kept stealin' from those Janes back there, so maybe we'd get chased like the good ol' days. Eddie was so happy I finally got caught. He told me he was gonna go down fightin', just before you came out. Said he'd never get another chance like this. You did him the best favor any good crook could ask for. You know what his last words was?"

"No. What were they?" I felt tears prick at my eyes.

"He shouted, 'You'll never take me alive, copper!' He died with a smile on his face, and joy in his heart."

I stayed silent. Killing... never got easier. Yes Eddie was happy, but... I ended a man's life. That's the immutable fact of the matter. And it's not funny.

"So now I owe ya one, copper."

"I couldn't accept anything you could give me. I killed your friend."

"He had a good life. He wasn't happy, being a raccoon. I always took to it better. He was so down, he couldn't even try to learn human speech again. So I owe ya. For makin' my friend happy, one last time."

"Well, if you owe me, how about you travel with me?" I asked. I felt bad for the little rascal.

He pushed off from the tree, and started walking towards me. "I got nothin' left to keep me here. Where ya headin, boss?"

"Home. It's complicated." I said simply.

"Sounds good, Elephant Ears. By the way, the name's Tony."

"Of course it is."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind." I didn't want to explain that it was a stereotypical gangster name. "Anyways, I still have to find breakfast. Stick with me, Tony."

"Hold up, boss, you never told me your name!" the raccoon shouted indignantly.

"Sorry, Tony. My name's Nathan. Nathan Grey."

* * *

You may be wondering how I knew so much slang from the twenties. Simple. I lived in the twenties. I'm immortal. I remember slang that even history doesn't. It took a little time, but all the slang I used was coming back to me. I had no intention of using it to talk to anyone other than Tony, but I felt somewhat obligated to talk to him like he was still a gangster. His life had been stolen from him.

After eating breakfast, I walked with Tony back to the camp.

"How'd you end up a raccoon anyways, Tony?" The mischievous rascal had kept trying to steal my food, and so I didn't really get a chance to talk to him while I ate.

He scowled. "Circe. Somehow I ended up on her island with Tony, and the next thing I knew, we was raccoons! And we never aged. It must have been a hundred years since I was born, and I'm still a spring chicken! But, ah, all my family's dead, by now. I ain't got no one. No one but you, boss!"

"How'd you get away from her island?" I asked, actually intrigued. More so by how he got there in the first place, but I got the feeling that if he hadn't told me, he'd never tell me, so I didn't press it. I assumed he was just running from the law.

"We gots away on a big ol' pirate ship! Two little runts managed to escape, a boy and a girl, oh, a good thirty years back, and we stowed away on their ship. We traveled for a long time, and now we're here! Well, I'm here, anyways." Tony always gesticulated wildly as he talked; I assumed he was of Italian descent, because they tended to do that. He was so animated, he couldn't help but lift your spirits.

"Hey Tony," I said, because I realized we were nearing the Hunters' camp. "Remember the pack of dames you stole food from?"

"'Course! I sure hopes I never has to goes back there!"

I looked away.

"We're gonna have to goes there, ain't we?" Tony asked. It was easy to forget he had the mind of a human, and he was a perceptive one at that.

"Yeah. It's not my home, but I need to go back there in order to get home. There's people there that I can't leave without," I told him honestly.

Tony gasped. "You ain't stuck on one o' those bearcats, are ya, Nate!?" He was asking if I was in love with any of the Hunters, who he was calling hot blooded and fiery.

"Relax, buddy. It's all Jake; I ain't carryin' a torch for nobody!" I told him everything was fine and I hadn't fallen for anybody.

"Alright, nifty. Those Janes ain't normal. They're a bunch of Mrs. Grundy's **(apologetic apostrophe)**!" A Mrs. Grundy was an extremely prudish or self righteous person.

"You can say that again, buddy. Climb up on my shoulder. They'll shoot you if they spot you by yourself. And don't speak English, either. They're more than Mrs. Grundy's. They'll shoot ya just for bein' a man! So keep yer trap shut and let me handle the talkin'. We don't need them finding out you're really a man."

"But I'm really a raccoon!" he protested.

"Tony, I'm serious. They'll knock you off in a second if they find out about you. Just climb up on my shoulder, so they know you're with me, and I'll be able to protect you if we need to go on the lam."

"We're gonna get to go on the lam!?" He shouted excitedly. Going on the lam was to go on the run from the police.

"Hopefully not, so dry up and hop on." To dry up was to shut up or get lost.

Tony finally climbed up, and to be honest I thought his claws would dig into my skin more. I was barely pricked, and quite pleasantly surprised.

"Well, let's get a move on. And remember not to take any wooden nickels, Tony." I told him not to do anything stupid.

In response, Tony just chattered at me, clearly upset I didn't trust him.

"You're not exactly on the level, Tony. I just don't want to be left holding the bag." I told him he wasn't exactly honest and reliable, and that I didn't want to be blamed for anything.

He chattered a sort of resigned reply, looking away. He was relenting.

"Alright then. Let's face the music.

* * *

"Nathan Grey, what on Earth are you doing with a raccoon on your shoulder?" Zoe didn't seem angry, just curious. Maybe even a bit amused.

I had waltzed right into the camp, and didn't see a single Hunter. Zoe seemed peeved until she saw me, and she looked relieved for a quarter second, until she noticed Tony. Then her look morphed into one of confusion. I noticed right away Ayano wasn't with her. Maybe it was lunchtime? The whole raccoon business had taken up a good chunk of time. It was probably about noon. But if everyone was having lunch, why wasn't Zoe with them? Did she not get along with them that much?

"Well, Nightshade... are there any Hunters around?" I asked, furtively.

"I don't think so," she replied in the same hushed tone. "Why are we being so secret about a racoon, Grey?" she said, sarcastically, in the same tone.

I looked around to make sure we weren't being watched. "He's actually a gangster from the twenties," I told her, dead serious.

She looked dumbfounded for a second, before barking out a hefty laugh that would have sounded pleasant if I weren't so shocked. I noticed Tony was not at all happy about her laughing at him, or maybe me.

"Zoe keep it down, please! He really is a gangster! If the Hunters find out they'll kill him!" I pleaded.

Zoe didn't look impressed. "Grey, it was a funny joke, I'll grant you that, but why are you trying to keep it going?" she said, really thinking I was fooling around.

Tony didn't look like was going to take this lying down. He tried to keep his cool, but... I suppose he felt that it wasn't in line with his pride.

He shouted at her in his high pitched, chittery voice, while waving his arms all around, "Hey, dumb dora, the big cheese is on the up and up! If you gots beef with this big six here then you gots beef with me! You must be balled up, bearcat, 'cause you're all wet! I've heard an earful outta out of you and you ain't no ducky doll yourself! Yo-" _ *****_ I clamped my hand over Tony's mouth.

Zoe, who was also immortal, but probably spent much less time interacting with mortals during the twenties, seemed totally shocked, but also somewhat confused and furious at the same time. I expected her to yell at Tony or me, but surprisingly her face changed back into her normal one.

"He's already been turned into a raccoon. What more could I do to the sap?" At the end of her sentence she poked Tony on the nose. A sap, while still in use today, as much of the slang is, back then meant a fool.

Tony licked my hand so I let him go, "I ain't no sap! Tell her I ain't no sap, boss!" He looked up, or, over, at me when he asked, so I felt a little bad when I told him,

"You were very rude to the lady, Tony. You called her a lot worse than a sap."

He looked a little miffed, but said, "Fine. Maybe you are a ducky doll. Your chassis-" As chassis meant the female body, whatever was going to follow it would not prolong Tony's life, so it was for his own good when I muffled him once again, much to his displeasure.

"Tony, play nice or dry up," I admonished, releasing my hand as I did so.

"Fine," he said, before muttering to himself, "If you're so goofy, why don't you just walk the middle aisle, huh?"

He was so childish. He had literally told me "If you love her so much, why don't you marry her?"

"Have you forgotten you're right next to my ear, Tony? I ain't goofy. I thought I already told ya I wasn't carryin' a torch for nobody!"

Zoe, in all of this, looked on with clear amusement, taking in the spectacle of a man yelling at a raccoon on his shoulder in twenties slang.

She spoke. "I suppose you weren't lying about him being a gangster. He seems to really like you. Sounds like he's you're employee."

"'Course I am. Nate here is a king, and you're just a-" I put my hand over his mouth, sure he was about to offend her. If he called her a gun moll, I was pretty sure I'd let her sock him square in the kisser. If you want to know what a gun moll is, just look it up.

Zoe let out a small laugh, before continuing. "Tony, I presume, you may think Nathan is the big cheese, but he's below me, and above _me_ is the real big cheese."

Tony snorted, which sounded weird, considering he was a raccoon, before saying, "Says you! There's no way that a-" I was extremely worried that he was about to say something sexist, but I had to know if he was, so I let him finish his thought, "jingle-brained bird like you could ever tell Elephant Ears what to do!"

I sighed in relief. A bird was actually a man or a woman, so he was just extremely rude, not sexist. Says you was an exclamation of disbelief, and jingle-brained meant addled, unable to think straight.

I set him straight. "She's right, Tony. If my big cheese is Al Capone, I'm just a hatchet man." I was saying I was just a killer, a gunman.

"No way, boss! You're stronger than any hatchet man I ever knew," he said sincerely.

"Thanks. We're actually trying to find our big cheese. You may not believe it, but... we're not actually from this world. We came here in a magical accident, along with a little girl, from a different version of this world.

Tony's raccoon eyes widened in shock.

"Says you... that's incredible! You weren't kidding when you said getting home was complicated." He gave me a proud look, which was always funny coming from the raccoon. "Don't worry, boss! I'll get you home, safe and sound! You, your moll, and your baby girl!"

I turned beet red. "She's not my. And I don't have a. You can't just. Aaaah!" A moll was a gangster's girlfriend, and was quite rude if used in a different way.

Zoe laughed hard, once again, which made me feel a lot better about it all.

I was just about to ask Zoe where everyone was when I saw Ayano running with delight towards me and Tony, shouting, "RACCOON! RACCOON!"

"That your little girl?" Tony asked quietly.

"She's not technically my daughter, but... yeah. I think so."

And I didn't hear Zoe question it.

 _ ***** Hey, stupid female, the big boss man is being honest with you! If you have a problem with this big strong guy here then you have a problem with me! You must be confused, bearcat, 'cause you're totally wrong! I've heard enough outta out of you and you ain't no amazing pretty woman yourself! _

* * *

**So, first off, the idea for Rascal Coon originated from Useless Wings by Average Canadian, so check them out if you think Tony is adorable.**

 **Second off, I know this is a filler chapter, and you may not have been wanting it, it doesn't advance the plot at all, but I just felt like the story needed humor and I fell in love with the idea of Rascal Coon, so I put him in the story.**

 **I know I went overboard with the slang. I know. Let the hate flow through you.**

 **I've been wanting to show how Nathan ordinarily reacts to his surroundings, and the only person who could be his friend and not be a hunter was an animal. Rascal Coon. Nuff said. Nate is a person with emotions and he almost never lets them out, and he can't when he needs to be perfect to please the Huntresses. This chapter is a way of showing you Nathan's true colors.  
**

 **I've been dealing with a lot of rough shit so I'm trying to write things that are more positive. Rest assured, I'll be as cynical as all Hades next chapter, when the fight happens, as well as dinner. It'll be quite the chapter.  
**

 **Anyways, sayonara!**

 **P.S. Search for my username on youtube and you'll find that I'm recording some of Anaklusmos14's work. If you're a fan of his, I'd recommend checking it out. More chapters are to come for Exiled, hopefully by tomorrow.**


	6. Unexpected Happenings

**You won't like this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: All rights reserved by the original copyright holders, including myself in such cases as applies.**

* * *

Ayano ran up to Zoe and I and stopped right before she rammed into my legs. She pointed at Tony and said simply, "Hello, Mr. Raccoon."

Tony looked at me as if to say, "What do I do?"

I thought for a second before making sure the Hunters weren't looking-they weren't-and I said to Ayano, "This is Tony. He can talk, but keep it secret, okay?"

The little girl gasped before nodding and putting her finger on her lip, showing she would indeed keep it quiet.

"Nice to meet ya," Tony said quietly.

Ayano giggled and said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Tony Raccoon."

Tony scampered down my back and gave Ayano a handshake, which was utterly bizarre.

"So, Ayano, have you had lunch?" I asked.

She nodded enthusiastically and said, "Yes! I ate Mac-and-Cheese!"

"Oh, okay," I said, before doing a double take, and trying not to shout. "Wait, what? Where did you get Mac-and Chesse?!"

"That Percy guy clapped and food was there! It was good! But I like stew better," she admitted.

I was having a little bit of trouble understanding this. Percy could just _make_ food? Out of nothing? That must be what Zoe was talking about.

"So he made food for you? That was... nice of him..." I managed to get out before looking at Zoe, who was suppressing a smile as my confusion.

"No, he made food for everone!" Ayano corrected me.

"Everyone?!" I couldn't help but shout, which made Ayano laugh.

"But... they're the Hunters... they _are_ the Hunters, right? But they eat his food? That a man made? Without any effort?"

Zoe nodded in vindication, while Ayano tilted her head to the side.

"But they're the _Hunters!_ It's their _name_! How could they let a man feed them, and without even hunting the food! Why do they call themselves the _Hunters_ if they don't _hunt_?! And why are they female only if they're provided for by a man?! That's crazy. That's so weird. That's... it's just... how wacky!"

Ayano laughed again, and Tony made a chittering noise that I guessed was laughing.

"Do you see what I've been dealing with, Nathan?" asked Zoe.

"My condolences. At any rate, where are they all?"

Zoe started to laugh dangerously. She let Ayano explain.

"Lady Artemis said they were going to train, but Zoe said we had to stay here, because of your curse or whatever. Zoe went to go get you."

That made sense. I made sure I was within half a mile at the most, but moving around carelessly might have unknown side effects.

"Training doesn't sound so bad," I said, waiting for Zoe to explain what had her so upset.

"It's led by Percy," she said simply.

"Wait, the whole thing? Archery and melee training?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, throwing knife and melee training," Zoe corrected.

"I mean, still, that's unbelievable. I trained a few of the Huntresses in melee combat, but not all of them, and only supplementarily."

Zoe nodded, "Remember what I said last night, Grey."

Tony's head turned to look at me, and I swear he moved his eyebrows up and down, so I rolled my eyes.

"Lead the way."

* * *

The Hunters, for all their comfortability with Percy, still did not find my presence tolerable.

"What is _he_ doing here," I heard someone say, and I couldn't help but smirk a bit at their immaturity. These Hunters all acted like they were their physical ages, all 10 to 14.

Some of them looked at Tony, back on my shoulder, strangely, but none said anything.

"Oh, hey man!" Percy shouted from across the forest clearing. For his situation, he seemed a decent fellow.

I raised my hand in greeting toward him.

I looked at Zoe, who nodded.

"Get down, Tony," I said quietly, and Tony scampered down, on all fours next to Ayano.

"Ho there, Percy! If you aren't busy, how about we exchange a few pointers? Nothing fancy, just a good old fashioned spar-swords only."

Percy laughed good-naturedly and agreed, "Sure, sounds like fun!"

I really wished it hadn't immediately attracted the attention of the entire Hunt, but it absolutely did. I sighed. This would not end well for me, no matter what.

Percy and I found an empty spot, and were immediately surrounded by prepubescent teen girls.

"No time limit, no powers, no maiming. A duel to the win-we'll stop once victory has been determined. Right?" Percy suggested some rules.

I agreed.

Percy pulled out a pen, and uncapped it, transforming it into a three foot longsword, the same one I'd seen in my dream. This was Zoe's sword. I glanced at her, but she didn't seem shocked to see it. She merely grimaced. I scowled unintentionally. She frowned, and I made a note to explain to her later. For now, it was time to duel.

I unsheathed my swords, and stood at the ready. Wielding two full sized swords was a complicated art. There was a reason why it was never used as a battle strategy throughout all of history, by anyone. It was stupidly difficult, and for almost anything, a shield was better. If not a shield, then a dagger. But not two full sized swords.

But I wasn't mortal. I had thousands of years to perfect my style. This Percy character couldn't have had more than a decade.

He lunged and chopped sideways, which I stepped back to avoid, before stepping in and thrusting with my left hand, guarding with my right.

He deflected to his right with his sword, and I swung my remaining sword right at his unprotected left side. He dodged, but I had him doing what I wanted, now.

I swung, I jabbed, I dodged, I side-stepped.

I could tell how powerful he was, but I never let him connect. I was faster, and I never let up on the offensive.

After a minute of blistering combat, I finally got lucky. A double feint of mine had fooled him. I made him think I was feinting, before going through with my thrust, and I stopped my sword point an inch from his neck.

He was shocked.

He blinked a few times, before he said, "My loss."

I sheathed my swords and held out my hand with what I hoped was a friendly smile. He capped his pen and shook my hand.

"I'm impressed," he told me frankly.

I shook my head, saying, "I only got lucky. And besides, if we were in a real fight, you'd have crushed me with your powers. All I'm good at is dueling, really."

Percy smiled and said, "I get the feeling you're not being totally honest with me."

He drew in closer, and said quietly so only I could hear, "Besides, it's no easy feat to gain Zoe Nightshade's approval. You must be good at _something_ other than dueling."

Not sure exactly what he was intimating, I felt the blood drain from my face for a second.

Then I felt something.

It felt like... hatred. I looked around, and sure enough, the Hunt was glaring murderously at me.

"I really ought to get going," I said.

"So soon?" Percy asked. He clearly wasn't aware of the bloodbath that would ensue if I stayed here any longer.

"Well, I've got to try to get back to my world as soon as possible. People waiting for us there, you understand."

Percy nodded like he did in fact understand.

I turned and walked a bit faster than strictly necessary to Zoe, Ayano, and Tony.

"Let's go," I suggested, and we all started making our way from the murderous little girl posse.

When we were a mile away, we finally stopped.

"If I never see those bearcats again, it'll be way too soon," Tony finally spoke.

"Tell me about it," I breathed.

Zoe smirked uncharacteristically, but still regally, like a princess, maybe just a little more spoiled than she was normally.

"That should teach those little _harlots_ a lesson," Zoe practically spat towards their direction.

My eyes widened as I put my hands over Ayano's ears, and used whatever power over wind I had left to make the air around them less dense, so she couldn't hear as well.

Zoe saw this, and opened her filter as wide as it would go, for her.

"Those brazen _sluts!_ " she seethed, though quietly. "Lusting after that man, like vixens, doxies, _whores!_ "

"Was it really that bad?" I wondered out loud.

" _Yes!_ " Zoe said strongly. "I did not appreciate you. I merely thought you acted as a respectful male should, but I did not give you enough credit. If you acted like _him_ you would already be dead! If my Huntress sisters acted like _them_ they would not be in the Hunt at all!"

"That's really something..." I said, but she wasn't done.

"Tramps, hussies, all! They're trollops, call girls, streetwalkers, wanton strumpets!"

Tony whistled, though I wasn't quite sure how.

"Zoe, please, this is getting excessive-"

"Hookers, courtesans, scarlet women, _loose trulls_! Hades take them!"

"Zoe-"

She signed.

"I'm finished, Grey. Truly. Release Ayano's hearing."

"Not 'til you tell me what's gotten you so riled up. It might set you off again."

Zoe looked upset, but said, "Tonight, Nathan."

I felt my chest lighten for a moment, though I didn't know why.

"We will discuss this after Ayano sleeps, alright?" Zoe said. My heart lightened again, and I realized why. I felt happy. I guessed it was because she was considering me her friend. That made me happy.

"Alright, then."

I let go of Ayano's ears.

"So, what shall we do now?" I asked.

Zoe thought for a moment, before deciding, "We should replicate the original circumstances. I will hold Ayano while you travel a mile North of here. Once you've gone that far, turn back. Oh, and take the raccoon with you."

"I agree," I agreed.

I almost started walking immediately, but I stopped, turned, and knelt in front of Ayano.

"I'll be right back, okay? Stay with Zoe until I am, okay?"

I had realized this might not work a second time. I might be leaving Zoe and Ayano behind. I hadn't realized how quickly those two had become more important to me than almost anything else.

I stood up and faced Zoe.

"Nightshade-Zoe. If this doesn't work, I want you to know..."

A million thoughts raced through my head. What? What do I want to tell her? No, I want to... No, that's not right, I can't...

I must have paused longer than I thought, because Zoe said warmly, for her, yet lightly, "Nathan, be careful, okay?"

My head was reeling and my throat was dry, my hands were itchy and my legs were shaking, but it didn't feel uncomfortable. What was this feeling?

"Yes, I will. Stay safe, Zoe."

She bared a ghost of a genuine smile, one of the only ones I'd seen. She was such a vision of beauty, I was ashamed to look at her. I looked down in embarrassment.

Tony clambered up my back, and I sped off.

"I ain't carryin' a torch for _nobody!_ " Tony did a lousy impression of my voice.

"Oh, can it, Tony," I chastised. "I was serious, I'm not in love with Zoe. She's a Huntress. They aren't allowed to have relationships with men."

For some reason, at the time, I didn't realize how little sense that actually made.

* * *

After living with the Hunt for months, and living since the mile was invented, I knew exactly how long one was, and after running one plus a few more steps, I turned back.

After running most of a mile, I saw Zoe, and breathed an audible sigh of relief.

Zoe had Ayano in her arms, and the little girl happily laughed, "Nathan!"

Zoe nodded, "There was a flash of light. We're in a different place. Though, hopefully our original place."

My heart sank.

"Yeah, hopefully," I agreed, but my heart wasn't really in it, though I tried to ignore that fact.

If Zoe noticed, she didn't mention it.

"Towards Olympus," Zoe suggested, and I agreed. We began to run east, but we soon discovered something strange.

This forest didn't end.

We ran for hours, but the trees looked exactly the same. We must have traveled a hundred miles, but we weren't in a different place.

Maybe in Canada that was possible, but not America. There simply wasn't that much uninterrupted forest. We would have seen at least one trail, a path, something.

We saw deer, but luckily no monsters were around. When it began to get dark, we halted our progress, and began building shelters-one for me and Tony, and one for Zoe and Ayano.

We chanced a fire, however, and we brought down a stag. After dressing it and beginning to roast the meat, we finally began to discuss what was going on.

"Could it be a world of endless forest?" I suggested.

"That sounds fun!" Ayano supplied helpfully.

"Hmm," Zoe considered. "It's possible. But, is it not also possible that it is simply a world where America was never colonized? Or a world where this part of America is a protected area?"

I nodded. "That's definitely true. In any case, it isn't our world, so there's no need to go to Olympus. It would be an element of unnecessary risk."

Zoe nodded her agreement.

After dinner, there was an... embarrassing outburst from Ayano.

"I want both!" she shouted angrily.

"I'm sorry, Ayano. But you just can't sleep next to both me and Zoe."

Ayano was nearing tears. It was easy to forget she was only 6 years old. I wasn't sure why this was so important to her, but I didn't want her to cry over it. My hands were tied, however.

"But why not?!" she asked loudly.

"Well, it's because-"

"Is it because Zoe thinks you're a meanie? Uh-uh, no she doesn't! So why not?!"

Zoe closed her eyes and took a no nonsense tone with Ayano.

"Ayano, stop it. What was the oath we told you you would have to swear once you got older?"

Ayano pouted even more and said quietly, "To swear off all romantic love."

Zoe stared at the girl until she sulked into Zoe's lean-to.

I was about to call after her when Zoe shook her head.

"You'll just remind her of what she can't have, and she'll try to start arguing again. Let's wait just a few minutes."

Tony had skulked off somewhere during dinner, so now we were alone. If we spoke quietly, Ayano wouldn't hear. In this endeavor, Zoe stood up and sat next to me, so we could speak more quietly. That was the intended effect, but I was glad the dying fire light dyed my face red.

"Those little kids from before, they were unbearable," Zoe began.

"The Hunters?" I asked for confirmation.

She spat into the fire, though she didn't actually spit anything but air.

"At dinner, and then doubly so at lunch, those trollops couldn't stop flirting with Percy. To his credit, I doubt he understood that, but he should have known, and refused to accept it. If one of the Huntresses began to flirt with you, I am sure you would stop them from making such a mistake."

I nodded, which in retrospect seems quite funny.

"But what did they do specifically that made you so upset?" I asked.

"There was nothing specific, Nathan. They simply threw away their pride by letting a man provide for them, they used the name of the Hunt as nothing but a joke. Home-cooked meals in an instant from a man. Dirty. Unclean."

She literally shivered at the thought.

"I, of course, abstained," she assured me, which I wasn't quite sure why I found comforting.

"And of their mistress?" I asked, expecting anger as a reply.

I received disgust.

"That girl is-was-is-nothing but a lovesick fool. The Hunt swears off all romantic love. If one falls in love and has romantic desires, that person is to expel themselves immediately from the Hunt. If it were my Lady herself, unthinkable as it may be, she would disband the hunt, and apologize for failing us all. Admiration is one thing, but romantic desires as well as love are something entirely else. It has happened many times in the Hunt's history. Women's commitments are not as unshakable as once thought, or they are unable to sever themselves from love, and they expel themselves from the Hunt. We do not shame them. The Hunt is not for all. But to remain in the Hunt, this is unthinkable."

"I see," I closed my eyes and nodded, before looking at Zoe. "That makes sense. Those women were breaking their oaths, or at least Artemis definitely was, and so their lack of honor angered you."

Zoe thought for a second, before nodding, "Yes. Yes, that's it."

"Zoe, I have something to confess."

I felt her freeze. She didn't even dare breathe.

"I had a dream."

She breathed in normally again.

"It was a dream of the past. However, I am not sure if it was a dream of our world's past, or that one's."

"And? What was it?" she asked cautiously.

I bit my lip.

"It was... Your past. Herakles. I thought you ought to know. I apologize for learning of it without permission."

Her fist clenched, then relaxed.

When she didn't respond, I continued.

"I... cannot imagine it being much worse. He did... the unforgivable to you, then left you for dead."

"Yes," she agreed. "He did."

I ground my teeth and spat out, "He will pay. If he has already, he will again. When I again have the power to fight him, he will suffer.

Zoe turned to me and asked, seriously, "And why must it be you who does it?"

"You worry I say this only to garner favor with you?" I asked. "It would be impossible to prove otherwise, but it is not so. I'm not going to do it because I think it's what you want me to do. I'm gonna do it because I want it done."

Zoe sat still for a long time.

"Where is the Hunt?" she asked the open air. "When will we return? If we cannot... If we are lost for so long... Would my lady... No. No, definitely not."

She stood up and said, "Ayano is snoring. I will retire. I hope we return home in the morning."

It hit me in the gut like a bowling ball.

"Yes," I said a bit too late. "Yes, I as well."

"Is there something the matter, Grey?" Zoe said, genuinely concerned. For some reason, that felt even worse than her statement.

I looked at her, and our eyes met. For just a second, I was mesmerized by her volcanic black irises.

Snapping out of it, I said lightly, "It's nothing. Nothing at all."

* * *

We did not get home that morning, at least.

I assumed this, because we were in the middle of a city.

This was the first time I had seen the flash of light, and after it receded, I was on the sidewalk of a city with skyscrapers only 4 to 5 stories at the most.

I turned around before remembering to use the mist to conceal Tony. Raccoons aren't protected by the mist. I would just look like a freak.

After longer than normal, I met up with Zoe, and we gave each other a look.

"Olympus?" I asked.

She nodded. We looked around for any signs, and soon found we were in a place called Carbondale, Illinois.

I looked at Ayano, who was still sulking, before turning back to Zoe.

"We haven't got any money, so flying there isn't an option. Unless we steal a car or something, we'll just have to run."

"It's fine," Zoe said.

"It'll take us a week..." I said.

"Yes, Grey, that's fine," she said, a bit confused as to what I was talking about.

I was a bit confused, as well.

We roughly followed the highway, switching off every hour or so to carry Ayano, though I always carried Tony. Why exactly Tony was following us, I had forgotten. Zoe tolerated his presence, but she would rather he be gone. He didn't exactly belong with us, to be fair. He thought of himself as a raccoon more than a human. But he had nowhere to go. Maybe if we got to somewhere he liked, he would stay there. Until then, he'd stay with us. Stamp seemed to like talking to the guy, and he was surprisingly good with her. Some people just are, I guess.

Every so often, I would catch Ayano smiling from the speed, but whenever I did she stopped. So she was still upset. At noon, we stopped for lunch, which we could luckily find in the forest on either side of the highway we were following, though it was only squirrel. Over the meal, I finally got Ayano to explain herself.

"Zoe and Nate should be better friends. They should sleep in one tent like some of my sisters do with me sometimes. It's not love, so it should be fine, right?"

I smiled at her. "Ah, little one. You would think it is that simple, but it is not so. Men and women can't be the same kind of friends as just one or the other. Men and women can't share the same sleeping place, even if they're just friends."

"That's silly," Ayano accused.

"I didn't make the rules. Do you understand why Zoe and I can't sleep together now?" I asked hopefully.

"Yes... But it's still silly."

That night, it rained.

We didn't predict it, so only one shelter was finished by the time it started to really pour.

Ayano wanted to play in the rain, but luckily Zoe was able to coax her into the shelter quickly enough. She only had those clothes, so if they got wet she'd really be in trouble.

Zoe began to help me build my shelter, but when a crack of thunder cut through the noise of the rain, Ayano screamed in fear, and Zoe rushed in to comfort her.

It started to rain even harder.

I carefully added more and more leaves to the shelter Stamp was in so there was no chance of it leaking on Ayano. However, it was windy as anything, and the shelter was in constant danger of being blown away. Throughout the night, I continued to protect the shelter.

At one point, after Ayano had fallen asleep, Zoe was about to leave the shelter to help, but I stopped her.

"If you get wet, who will sleep with Ayano? You forget, I am wind. Wind and rain often go hand in hand. It does not bother me."

What I neglected to mention, though I suspect Zoe knew, was that I was not un-bothered by the piercing cold that being soaking wet brought with it, and the lack of sleep.

In the morning, I was beat.

"I'll have to trouble you to carry Ayano, Nightshade."

"Think nothing of it, Grey," Zoe said carefully, after pausing to think for several seconds.

"It didn't leak on Ayano, did it?" I asked, suppressing a yawn.

"Dry," Zoe said simply.

"Good."

We started off again, and by nightfall, I was so tired that I fell asleep on the ground before even making a shelter. I woke up briefly, when I felt myself falling. I opened my eyes in surprise, only to widen them further when I saw black eyes staring into them. Zoe's hands were under my arms, and she quickly let go.

"Ayano insisted we build you a shelter, so I moved you into it. That is all."

Still mostly asleep, I grunted in disapproval before passing back out.

I did not remember this come morning, so Zoe's disguised glances passed me by.

Nothing else interesting really happened until we reached New York City several days later.

To pass the time, we played twenty questions, name that tree, guess what I'm thinking, and I taught Ayano some of the history of the second Titanomachy.

* * *

When we entered NYC, we hurried to the Empire State Building, where Zoe handed the receptionist a key card, and the man wordlessly gave it back and nodded.

Zoe, Ayano, Tony, and I all got into the elevator, and away we went to the 601st floor.

"How do we know if it's home?" Ayano asked.

"Lady Artemis will be waiting for us if it is. We will head to her palace."

Long story short, she wasn't in her palace.

In fact, we couldn't find _any_ Olympians. The minor gods and sprites on the streets were no help, either.

When someone told us "What Titanomachy?" when we asked how long it had taken the second time, we decided to get out of there.

We had nearly reached the elevator when a sudden pain in my chest made me look down, and there was a celestial bronze arrowhead floating there. No, it wasn't floating. It was attached to an arrow. Which was inside of me.

Someone might have screamed, but I wasn't exactly sure, because for some reason I was on the ground, and then I was getting dragged into the elevator, and then everything got dark, and I was dreaming.

It was a nice dream. Zoe was there, and Ayano. I don't remember why it was so good, though.

I woke up in agony, in the forest, the sky dark, with a weight on my chest.

I turned to my right to look, and I guessed that Zoe had fallen asleep by accident.

"Wake up, Lieutenant. You accidentally fell asleep and landed on me. I know you must need rest, but if Artemis catches you, I'm dead."

Zoe's head slowly rose and she rubbed the sleep from her eyes groggily as she sat up. We were on the ground.

As she did so, I continued, "You shouldn't push yourself so hard. I don't mean to criticize you, but if you're accidentally falling asleep in the middle of camp, there's no way it's good for you to work so hard."

Zoe looked sad.

What was Zoe sad about?

Was one of the Huntresses hurt?

"Nathan?" she whispered.

"Yes?" I whispered back.

I don't know why we were whispering. The rest of the hunt must be asleep.

"What... are you saying?" Zoe asked incredulously, still whispering.

"I apologize for trying to criticize you as a man, I just thought that if you're so tired, you should sleep more."

Zoe shook her head, but it was dark and I couldn't read her expression.

'What's the last thing you remember?" Zoe whispered.

The last thing I remember?

I thought about it for a while, but I couldn't exactly remember.

"Umm... it was... I don't know. I'm sorry."

Zoe took a deep breath and asked, "Do you remember Percy?"

"Percy? Sort of rings a bell... But not really."

"Do you remember Tony?"

"Hmm... Maybe? Was he someone's pet?"

Zoe put her hands over her face and started shaking.

I didn't know what to do, but my heart felt like it was being ripped in half. I tried to put my hand on her shoulder, but I couldn't move my arm very well, so I ended up whiffing, holding nothing but air.

A second later, Zoe looked at me with tears in her eyes and yelled in an extremely weak voice that was pitiful to hear, "Do you remember being shot?!"

A little...

"When we went to Olympus! You got shot! But it wasn't just you! Ayano and that _fucking_ raccoon got hit too!"

The fog over my mind instantly started clearing.

"Ayano? No, she's... Ayano... oh gods, Zoe, were's Ayano?! What happened?!"

Zoe just shook her head.

"No, no way," I couldn't believe it. Ayano wasn't... she wasn't...

"How could this happen?!" I shouted. I started to get up, even though it hurt like Tartarus.

"Stay down!" Zoe ordered in her painfully faint voice. She must have been crying for a long time. I stayed down.

"You were all shot. I grabbed you and Ayano and got into the elevator. I force fed both of you some ambrosia, and I ran as fast as I could with Ayano once we reached the bottom. I had to hope I could run a mile before they got to you.

"It was another forest world. I came back to you."

She started to cry again.

"Ayano was already dead. She died sometime after we changed worlds. When I got to you, you were barely alive, but you weren't breathing. I prayed for a miracle."

She looked at me through her tears.

"That was a week ago."

I tried to get up again, and Zoe let me. I sat up and held Zoe's shoulder with my hand. I thought she would push it off, but she didn't react at all.

When it became clear she wasn't going to stop crying, I pulled her towards me, guiding her head to my chest, as I held her there, on the forest floor.

I didn't have anything to say, so I didn't say anything.

Just held Zoe.

We had basically just lost our daughter.

I silently wept as I held Zoe to my chest, letting her sleep in relative comfort for the first time in a week.

I couldn't believe Ayano was gone. Dead. She'd never laugh again, she'd never whine, never make a joke, or smile, or hold my hand. She'd never sit on my shoulders, never let Zoe carry her.

She was dead. In a world that might not even have an afterlife.

Because I couldn't protect her. I didn't even see it happen.

I'm a failure.

These words kept ringing in my ears.

 _I'm a failure. I'm a failure. Failure. Failure!_

I squeezed my eyes shut. I forced myself to think about something else.

Who shot us?

And why?

Was it just that world, or was some unknown enemy going to start chasing us through the damn multiverse?

I hadn't noticed Zoe wake while I ruminated, so she surprised me when I heard her say weakly, "I thought you were going to leave me here. Alone in a giant forest, by myself, forever."

There was nothing I could say.

"I'm glad you didn't."

I put my hand on the back of her head, and after a while, said, "There's no one here to blame you, if you want to fulfill one of her last wishes."

So it came to pass that Zoe and I slept next to one another, each on either side of Ayano's grave.

Weeping, together, for the child we lost.


End file.
